Worlds Apart
by ElaineDex
Summary: AU : Major Lorne is left all alone with his newborn daughter & swears that he'll never fall in love again...then he meets Dr Ellie Harrison...then still swears that he will never fall in love again!
1. Chapter 1

Date : 07.04.2008

Title : Worlds Apart

Author : ElaineDex

Chapter : 1 of ?

Rating : M

Pairings : Major Evan Lorne/Dr. Ellie Harrison

Warnings : Some Sexual Content, Romance, Adventure, Strong Language.

**Spoilers : This story is part of a challenge set by puppypower01 - The Challenge of the Gate worlds - which you can find on her profile page - and part of an idea I had for another AU story…it has nothing to do with either of my other two series' which I will be continuing with shortly.**

Feedback : Yes please, always welcome whatever it may be.

Disclaimer : Dr. Ellie Harrison is mine. Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1 and all their characters, unfortunately, have nothing to do with me.

**Summary : AU : Major Lorne is left all alone with his newborn daughter and swears that he will never fall in love again…then he meets Dr Ellie Harrison…then still swears that he will never fall in love again!**

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

**WASHINGTON D.C.**

Major Evan Lorne stood by his wife's graveside, tears blurring his eyes as he kissed his new born daughter's soft downy head.

Brianna had died in childbirth one week ago. Unexpected complications Dr Beckett had told him…nothing could have been done…the haemorrhaging had been too severe…

At his side, Brianna's sister, Lt. Laura Cadman, wiped away her own tears as her father put an arm around her shoulders supportively.

"Anna will like it here", Cadman said, referring to the beautiful, peaceful spot that they had chosen for Brianna's final resting place. It was under a huge oak tree in one of the quieter parts of the cemetery.

Lorne nodded sadly. He knew that he had to return to Atlantis soon as duty always called, but Earth was so far away from there and it wouldn't be like he could just come and see Brianna whenever he wanted to…it just wouldn't be possible.

Cadman turned to Lorne.

"Let me take Emma for you so that you can have some time alone", she said and Lorne kissed the baby again as though he was reluctant to let her go but he eventually handed his daughter over to her Aunt and then he was left alone to say his goodbyes.

**SGC - CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN COMPLEX**

"Mitchell? It's going to be Mitchell?", Dr Ellie Harrison asked, clearly exasperated by the news of just exactly whom was going to be replacing O'Neill as her C/O.

"That's what they say", Dr Daniel Jackson said as he continued to stuff books into a box but as fast as he packed them, Ellie took them out again.

"It cant be Mitchell, jeez…he teased me all through high school, he was a couple of years above me…I hate that guy", she muttered, going to pull another book from the box but Daniel caught her wrist.

"Would you stop that…I'm trying to pack up here", he said and Ellie pulled a face at him before allowing the book in her hand to drop unceremoniously back into the box.

She moved away from his desk and leaned against a filing cabinet, folding her arms grumpily.

"I can't believe that you're all going off doing your own thing…I'm your Research Assistant, you cant just leave me here", she said and Daniel grinned at her.

"You could always go to Atlantis…I know McKay can be a jerk but….", he trailed off as Ellie held up her hands.

"No way…I could never work with McKay…never…no way…never…".

**TWO YEARS LATER - ATLANTIS**

Dr Ellie Harrison was not enjoying her first day on Atlantis so far.

She was covering for Dr McKay who was needed at the SGC for a while and had only beamed down from the Daedalus one hour ago, straight into the middle of some kind of attempted take over by the cities' two resident Wraiths, Michael and Todd.

Her ear-piece crackled and Lt. Col. Sheppard's voice sounded in her ear.

"How's the lockdown coming Doc?".

"I'm working on it", she replied, tapping away on the console in front of her furiously.

"Could you work a little quicker…if we don't hurry Michael and Todd will leave that part of the city and it took us two hours to find them in the first place", Sheppard replied and Ellie grimaced and muttered,

"Well if there had been other security measures in place you would have found them a lot sooner…I mean I really am surprised that Rodney hasn't introduced the personal trackers out here yet".

"The what?", Sheppard asked, then tapped his ear-piece again when Ellie didn't reply.

"Doc? Ellie, respond please", he said.

In the power room Ellie was staring straight into the eyes of Todd, her mouth forming an 'O' shape but no sound would come out.

The last words that she had muttered to Lt. Col. Cameron Mitchell in their parting argument raced through her mind…

'You can never do as good a job as Jack, Cameron. Face it, you have too big a shoe to fill…Good luck!'.

She groaned and wished that she was back in the SGC right now…with Cameron. He might rub her up the wrong way but he was a lot safer to be around than a life-sucking wraith.

Slowly she raised a hand to her ear-piece and tapped it.

"Could I er…could I have some security in the power room…um…like….aghhhh", she cried out as Todd lunged for her and she shot around the other side of the console as she made a run for it.

"Major Lorne what's your position?", Sheppard said and Lorne, who had been listening in replied,

"I'm on my way Sir, I'm right by there", and he indicated for Lieutenant Cadman and Sergeant Stackhouse to accompany him as he headed off.

Ellie and Todd moved around and around the console, Todd grinning at Ellie as though he knew it was only a matter of time before he caught her, Ellie on the other hand was weighing up her options as they circled.

She saw the heavy looking equipment case by the door and a plan began to form in her mind.

She circled the console one more time then darted for the doorway. She picked up the metal case and without knowing how she managed it, used all her strength and swung it around and aimed high, smashing it into Todd's face as he closed on her.

He staggered backwards just as Lorne, Cadman and Stackhouse arrived.

Lorne indicated that Cadman and Stackhouse apprehend Todd and he looked at Ellie.

"Are you alright ma'am?", he asked and Ellie regarded him.

"Ma'am?", she said, then added, "I'd prefer Ellie if you don't mind…", and she glanced at his uniform before finishing, "Major Lorne".

Lorne nodded before tapping his ear-piece.

"We've got Todd sir and the Doc is okay".

"Great…Michael shouldn't be far away…Ellie, keep working on that lockdown", Sheppard replied and Ellie moved back to the console, grimacing at Todd who was sitting on the floor between Cadman and Stackhouse, nursing his bleeding nose and mouth as he glared at her.

"Don't make me hurt you again", Ellie told him and as Todd snarled, Lorne raised an eyebrow at her.

"What?", she asked him innocently and he shook his head.

"Nothing".

Ellie frowned as she looked back at the console.

She tapped her ear-piece.

"John, was Rodney working on anything to do with the gate before he left?", she asked and Sheppard glanced at Ronon and Teyla before responding and they both shrugged.

"I'm not sure…I don't think so. Zelenka might know", he offered, then asked, "Why?", suspiciously.

"Because any minute now the lockdown and the other missing wraith are going to be the least of your worries…there is some serious solar activity going on right now and the ZPM is acting kinda crazy and…", Ellie trailed off as Lorne moved to her side and looked at the control panel.

"And what?", Sheppard asked trying to keep the urgency out of his voice as he waited for her to continue.

"And if anyone is in the gate room I'd get them out like right now…the gate is going to experience a very high power surge and it could blow".

"Blow as in explode?", Sheppard asked as he, Ronon and Teyla took off at a run.

"No, blow as in sitting there serenely….OF COURSE BLOW AS IN EXPLODE!", Ellie replied and Lorne regarded her.

"Is there anything that you need me to do?", he asked and Ellie's eyes clashed with his and she realised at the most inopportune moment possible just how gorgeous he was.

Hundreds of responses raced through her mind and she blushed and looked back down at the console.

"Ah…get Dr Zelenka here?", she said and Lorne nodded and moved away, ordering Cadman and Stackhouse to take Todd to a holding cell before pausing at the door.

"I should lock you in here with Michael still being loose and all", he said and Ellie nodded.

"Whatever you think best", she said and Lorne found that he liked the way she instantly trusted his judgement and didn't question it like most of the scientists he'd worked with.

Moving outside he used his security clearance to lock the power room door and then he went to fetch Zelenka.

When he'd gone, Ellie continued to monitor the power building in the ZPM and tried to figure out what the hell was going on whilst also trying to continue with the lockdown.

A movement in the corner of the room caught her eye and she gasped as what looked like part man/part wraith emerged from the shadows.

"Jeez this is just not my day is it?", she muttered as Michael moved closer.

**OoOoO**

"So did Ellie say what was causing the solar activity?", Carter asked as she, Sheppard and his team evacuated the gate room.

"No…just that the gate was going to blow".

"This has to be down to McKay", Ronon said and Carter and Sheppard exchanged a glance before they too left the room.

**OoOoO**

"So what the hell happened to you?", Ellie asked as she and Michael eyed one another from across the console.

"Your kind did this to me", Michael replied and Ellie sighed as she slowly raised her hand to her ear-piece.

"So now I have to pay right? Isn't that how this kind of situation normally goes?", she asked and Michael regarded her thoughtfully.

"You don't mind if I radio for help do you?", she asked and he shrugged.

"By the time your people get in here I will have fed upon you and your life-force will be gone".

"Come back Cameron Mitchell, all is forgiven", Ellie muttered as she tapped her ear-piece.

"Major Lorne…I must be the unluckiest person on Atlantis right now…one wraith was bad enough but two….not funny…", she said.

Outside the room Lorne and Zelenka were just arriving and Ellie's words made them glance at one another in alarm as they realised that Michael must be locked inside the power room with the Doc.

"Buggeration and fuckery! This could not have come at a worse time!", Zelenka exclaimed and Lorne eyed him as he readied his P-90.

"That didn't sound like Czech to me Doc", he said and Zelenka shook his head as he tackled the door control panel.

At the same time as the power room door opened, the power surge blasted outwards from the gate and travelled through the city, throwing people off of their feet.

Once it was over Lorne quickly got to his feet and stuck his P-90 in Michael's face.

"Get up", he stated and Michael glared at him before reluctantly doing as instructed.

Just then Carter's voice buzzed in their ears.

"Ellie? Zelenka? Could you come to the gate room immediately", she said.

As they went to move away, Ellie glanced over her shoulder at Lorne.

"Will you be okay with him…?", she asked, not wanting to desert the Major and Lorne's lips twitched.

"I'll be fine, thank you", he replied and Ellie nodded before following Zelenka.

**OoOoOo**

"The gate is supercharged now…", Sheppard repeated Zelenka's statement and Zelenka nodded.

"Yes, from what Dr Harrison and I can make out, the cities' grounding station pylons amplified the solar energy, ran it through the shield generators and into the power room", he said and Ellie took over.

"Making the ZPM go crazy and the gate 'blow'", and she looked pointedly at Sheppard who stuck his tongue out at her from behind Carter's back.

"So what will this mean in terms of gate travel?", Carter asked and Zelenka and Ellie replied at the same time,

"We wouldn't recommend it for now".

"Okay, but I need you two to keep working on fixing this…SGA's-3 and 4 are off-world at the moment and with the Daedalus on its way back to earth we have no way of getting them back here safely", Carter said and Ellie and Zelenka nodded.

**OoOoO**

Ellie yawned and collapsed against the control panel.

"You should take a break. I can carry on for a while", Zelenka said and Ellie raised her head to look at him.

"But you've worked through the night too", she said and he grinned.

"I have done so many times since being on Atlantis under Rodney's strict working conditions…you need to ease yourself into this gently. Go rest…if I need you, be assured that I will radio you", he said and Ellie stretched.

"Well if you're sure…I'll just go take a shower", she said, realising that she still had the clothes on that she had beamed down from the Daedalus in and she needed to get into her SGA uniform.

She headed for her assigned quarters, let down her long brunette curly hair, showered and changed then decided to head out to the mess hall to get some food.

She had hardly touched her sandwich before promptly falling asleep with her head resting on the table before her.

She was awakened by the sharp squeal of a small child and her head shot up and she blinked and saw Major Lorne holding a struggling toddler in his arms as he looked down at her.

He smiled and then laughed and it was only when the soggy piece of lettuce that had been attached to her cheek plopped down onto the table top that she realised what a complete mess she must look.

Her hair had dried from her shower and was a mass of curls and she tried to push it away from her face and wipe her cheek at the same time and Lorne grinned at her.

"Hi", he said and she cleared her throat and tried to appear fully awake as she replied.

"Hi…um…am I dreaming or are you really holding a small cute person?".

Lorne looked at said 'small cute person' and then back at Ellie and said proudly,

"This is my daughter, Emma…she was two a few days ago".

Ellie's eyes widened at the 'daughter' part and then realised that if there was a daughter, there had to be a wife, or a girlfriend and she shook off the disappointment that threatened and smiled.

"She's just like you", she said taking in the little girl's dark hair and blue eyes and Lorne smiled.

Suddenly Emma reached her arms out to Ellie and began to struggle more against Lorne's hold.

Lorne frowned…normally the only female that Emma would go to was her Aunt Laura and the fact that his daughter wanted to go to this complete stranger was a new one on him.

He hesitated when Ellie moved back her chair and held her arms out to the straining toddler and Ellie glanced at him and went to lower her arms.

"I'm sorry…", she began but Lorne shook his head and deposited Emma into her lap.

"I…it's okay…it's just…it's a long story", he said and Ellie shifted Emma's weight slightly as she regarded him.

"I can hold her if you want to get something to eat", she offered and Lorne nodded.

"Thanks", he said, hovering for a moment before turning to head to the food counter.

He half expected to hear Emma's sharp cry for him as he walked away but it never came and he glanced back over his shoulder to see his daughter bouncing up and down on Ellie's knee, waving the soggy piece of lettuce around like it was the best toy she'd ever been given.

Shaking his head he turned back toward the food counter.

Ellie was just laughing at the way Emma was giggling when the female marine that had been with Lorne the day before, stopped at her table.

"What are you doing with Emma?", Cadman asked, pulling Emma from Ellie's hold and the toddler let out a disapproving cry and Ellie's eyes widened.

"I…um, I was just holding her for Major Lorne whilst he got some food", she explained and Cadman shifted Emma to her other hip before saying,

"Well I'm her Aunt so I'll take it from here".

Ellie shrugged and could only watch as Cadman moved away with Emma.

Lorne looked over when he heard Emma's cry and he saw Cadman pull her from Ellie's grasp and he frowned and put his tray down and headed back over just as Cadman strode away with his daughter.

"Hey, Laura!", he called out and as Ellie watched on, Cadman turned to face Lorne.

"Oh, Evan…I just thought…", she began but Lorne cut her off.

"I left Emma with Ellie, there was no reason to trouble yourself", he said and Laura pursed her lips.

"Looking after my niece is no trouble Evan you know that", she answered and Lorne nodded.

"Yeah I know but she was fine with Ellie", he pressed and Cadman sighed and moved closer to Ellie again, then handed Emma back to her.

As Cadman moved away, Ellie looked to Lorne.

"What was all that about?", she asked.

"Let me get my tray and I'll be right back", Lorne replied and Ellie watched him go.

She felt Emma tugging on one of her curls and laughed as she looked down at the beautiful little girl and she got the feeling that her daddy was one man that she would definitely want to get to know better.

Lorne returned and sat opposite them.

"I'm sorry about Laura…she's just a little protective of Emma", he said and Ellie regarded him.

"Where's Emma's mom?", she asked and watched as Lorne's handsome face instantly clouded over.

"I'm sorry…I shouldn't have asked…we don't even know one another…I shouldn't be prying", she said but Lorne shook his head and took a sip of his coffee.

"It'll do me good to talk to someone who wasn't around back then", he said and Ellie stayed silent, waiting for him to continue.

"My wife, Brianna, was Lt. Cadman's younger sister…she died…giving birth to Emma", he said eventually and avoided her eyes as Ellie looked at him in shock.

"Major…I…I don't know what to say", she said and Lorne looked up.

"Just don't tell me that you're sorry…I've heard enough 'I'm sorry's to last me a lifetime", he said and Ellie smiled gently and looked down at Emma.

"I'll bet you have", she murmured and Lorne watched her with his daughter.

He had sworn after Brianna's death that he would never fall in love again and even now, two years on, he still felt compelled to stay away from the thing that could cause not only him, but now his daughter, heartache.

"Lt. Cadman has every right to be protective", Ellie said and Lorne sighed.

"Yeah, but there was no need to snatch Emma from you like she did", he said and Ellie smiled.

"No harm done was there Emma?", she said and the toddler looked up and grinned at Ellie, grabbing a fistful of Ellie's hair again and Lorne smiled at his baby's antics.

Just then the 'unscheduled gate activity' alarm sounded and Ellie glanced up.

"I should get back to Zelenka", she said and Lorne stood and bent to retrieve his daughter from her.

The toddler squealed her displeasure again and Ellie waved at her.

"I'll see you soon Emma", she cooed and then looked at Lorne.

"Bye for now then", she said and he nodded and smiled and Ellie felt her heart skip.

She turned and headed for the mess hall's exit before she could make an idiot of herself.

**OoOoO**

"What's going on?", Ellie asked as she joined Zelenka in the gate room and saw the alarming rate that the gate seemed to be dialling up.

"I don't know", Zelenka exclaimed, waving his hands in the air. "It just started dialling but the address is phenomenally long….".

"Cant you shut it down?", Carter asked as she and Sheppard headed up the steps to join them.

"The fail safes should have kicked in by now", Ellie said bending over the console to take a look at the latest readings.

"One of us should head to the power room…", Zelenka began but was cut off as the gate suddenly burst into life and a crystal type object flew out of the opened portal and landed in the middle of the gate room floor.

Sheppard immediately called for security and the gate room was sealed off.

"What the hell is that?", Sheppard asked pointing his hand gun at the crystal.

"I don't know, but shooting it wont help", Ellie said wryly and Sheppard glared at her.

They had known one another a long time and she knew the way John's mind worked when it came to foreign objects!

Slowly Ellie crept toward the object.

"Is that a good idea?", Sheppard asked and Zelenka shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets and Sheppard rolled his eyes and kept Ellie covered with his gun.

Suddenly a bright beam of red light shot out and zapped Ellie and she fell to the ground, her long hair fanning out around her head as she landed.

End of Chapter One


	2. Chapter 2

Date : 09.04.2008

Title : Worlds Apart

Author : ElaineDex

Chapter : 2 of ?

Rating : M

Pairings : Major Evan Lorne/Dr. Ellie Harrison

Warnings : Some Sexual Content, Romance, Adventure, Strong Language.

Spoilers : This story is part of a challenge set by puppypower01 - The Challenge of the Gate worlds - which you can find on her profile page - and part of an idea I had for another AU story…it has nothing to do with either of my other two series' which I will be continuing with shortly.

Feedback : Yes please, always welcome whatever it may be.

Disclaimer : Dr. Ellie Harrison is mine. Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1 and all their characters, unfortunately, have nothing to do with me.

Thanks to Ben for his help with the techno babble and to Kaz for her imput when I was a little stuck!

**Summary : AU : Major Lorne is left all alone with his newborn daughter and swears that he will never fall in love again****…****then he meets Dr Ellie Harrison****…****then still swears that he will never fall in love again!**

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

"I guess it wasn't such a good idea", Zelenka said as he, Sheppard and Carter looked down at Ellie from the gate room steps.

"Dr Keller, this is Carter, we need a medical team to the gate room now please", Carter said then added, "Is she…?", as Sheppard went to crouch by her side but as he did so a red hologram of an ancient-type woman materialized from the crystal and hovered over Ellie.

Sheppard backed up as she began to speak without actually looking at them.

"The 'Joining Ritual' has begun…only the man to whom this woman's heart belongs can awaken her from her slumber with a kiss".

As the hologram disappeared, Zelenka covered his face with his hands and shook his head, groaning loudly and cursing in Czech.

"Great…we have our very own Sleeping Beauty", Sheppard said and Carter sighed as she looked down at the 'sleeping' Doc.

"Great", she said frowning as Zelenka continued to mutter in his own language, occasionally throwing in something about working alone and McKay before flinging his arms into the air and stalking off toward the consoles and a bemused looking Chuck.

Carter looked at Sheppard just as Keller and a team arrived.

"What happened?", the Doctor asked as she knelt by Ellie's side and felt for her pulse.

"She got zapped by that crystal over there", Sheppard said and Keller eyed the object warily.

Carter turned to Sheppard,

"I'll look at the crystal and round up some help for Zelenka for the work on the gate, you go with Ellie to the infirmary, see what our options are once Jennifer has examined her, I don't really want to have to go with the idea of all the men on Atlantis queuing around the halls to kiss her…", she trailed off as Sheppard's eyes widened.

"Yeah and what if the guy she 'belongs' to isn't even here? I have no idea if she was even involved with anyone back home…we could be looking for a needle in a haystack", he said.

"Well let's hope it doesn't come to that okay?", Carter said as she moved away and Sheppard nodded and looked up at the still open wormhole.

"Hey, Zelenka", he called and Radek looked over from the console he was at.

"Yes Colonel?".

"Is there no way we can contact earth…I hate to say this but I think we could use McKay's help…", he trailed off though as suddenly McKay and Mitchell appeared through the gate and strolled up to them.

"What the hell…?", Sheppard said and McKay grinned at him before frowning when he spotted Ellie on the floor.

"What happened to her?", he asked and Sheppard frowned at him.

"How did you two get here?", he responded to McKay's question with one of his own.

"Where's Sam? I have to tell her about the most amazing gate discovery…", and as he walked off to find Carter, Sheppard raised his gun, stopping Rodney in his tracks.

"How do I know you're the real you?", he asked and McKay rolled his eyes as a security team closed in.

"Don't start that again Sheppard…and believe me that when I tell you what we have found, knowing who is who is going to get 'really' important".

As Sheppard glared at McKay, Mitchell said,

"It's a long and complicated story", and Sheppard nodded.

"Where McKay is concerned is it ever any different?", he asked and Mitchell smiled.

"Is she okay?", he asked as Keller got Ellie onto a stretcher and Sheppard sighed and lowered his gun, for now he had to trust that they were who they said they were but he would be keeping an eye on them.

"Another complicated story", he said as they headed for Carter's office.

"Let me know the second you have news on Ellie", he shouted to Keller who waved as she left the gate room.

**OoOo**

Sheppard and Lorne's teams, plus Carter and Zelenka sat staring at McKay and Mitchell as though they had both sprouted second heads.

Sheppard groaned as Carter said,

"So let me get this straight, you're saying that the gate at the SGC experienced the same power surge that the Atlantis one did and now there is a 'Gateworld' that everyone from every planet has to go to before they can travel on to anywhere else?".

"Yes", McKay replied and then added excitedly, "But it's not just our universe that uses this Gateworld…its all the other universes too".

Sheppard held up a hand.

"Other universes?", he queried and Mitchell shrugged.

"That's what I said", he offered and Sheppard sighed.

"All the parallel universes, yes", McKay informed them and Lorne sat forward in his chair.

"Parallel universes?", he said and McKay huffed.

"Is there something wrong with all your hearing or am I speaking in another language?".

"You may as well be", Ronon muttered and Rodney threw up his hands.

"You'll just have to come with me then and I'll show you the place and you'll see how it's going to have to be from now on", he said.

"There's no way that we can go back to how things were? I don't like the idea that our gate will be permanently open like it is and I bet General Landry wasn't too happy about the SGC's gate either", Carter said and Rodney shook his head.

"Landry is okay with it…kind of…now he's been to the 'Gateworld' too", he said and Carter sighed deeply.

"As you say, we'll have to go to this 'Gateworld' then and see what it's like", she said just as Keller appeared in the doorway.

"How's Ellie?", Sheppard said and Lorne looked up at the mention of the Doc's name.

"Well…all her tests have come back clear and so it seems that she really is just sleeping".

"There's no way of waking her up?", Sheppard asked and Keller shrugged.

"Nothing that I can think of. We could just wait it out…treat the situation like that of a coma victim", she replied and Carter frowned.

"Cam, do you know if Ellie was dating anyone back on earth before she came out here to cover for McKay?", she asked and Mitchell shook his head.

"I don't think she was, I mean I never heard her talk about anyone specific, but then again, i'm the last person that she would discuss something like that in front of", he said and Carter folded her arms and looked to Sheppard.

"I don't really like about this but if getting every man here to kiss her is the only way to find the one to wake her up then I guess that's what we'll have to do…we cant afford for her to be unconscious forever, not with everything that's going on at the moment".

Sheppard nodded and looked around as he stood.

"Okay, well, shall we start with you guys here first?", he asked and mumbled sounds of agreement sounded around the room.

**OoO**

In the infirmary, Keller shook her head as the guys gathered near Ellie's bedside.

She lay looking serene and Sheppard rubbed his hands and looked around.

"Okay, so who wants to go first?", he asked and Ronon stepped forward.

"Me", he said and Sheppard raised an eyebrow.

"Okay then….so just one peck on the….", he trailed off as Ronon pulled Ellie's shoulders and head up off the bed and kissed her thoroughly before laying her back down and stepping back and Sheppard and the others stared open mouthed at him in disbelief.

"What?", Ronon asked as he saw them all staring at him.

"Well…it doesn't look like you're 'the one' anyhow", Sheppard said and Ronon shrugged somewhat indifferently and moved away.

Lorne hovered at the back of the group, not wanting to step forward too soon. He hadn't kissed a woman since Brianna and the thought of having to kiss Ellie was making him nervous.

He watched as Sheppard leaned over Ellie and kissed her and again nothing happened and as Mitchell stepped forward Sheppard came to stand by Lorne.

He lowered his voice as he said,

"You okay with this?".

Lorne squared his shoulders and nodded.

"Yes sir", he replied and Sheppard patted his shoulder.

"Do it now", he said as McKay and Zelenka began to argue about who should go next.

Lorne took a deep breath and stepped around the two bickering doctors and hovered over Ellie.

Feeling compelled to touch her, he gently placed his fingertips to the side of her face and pressed his lips to hers.

Slowly Ellie began to return his kiss and Lorne jerked back in shock as she opened her eyes and blinked up at him.

"Major? What's going on?", she murmured sleepily and Lorne looked around at the equally shocked expressions on the faces of the people around them and wondered what the hell he was supposed to say.

He wasn't even sure that he wanted to acknowledge what this meant, never mind explain it to Ellie.

Ellie sat up and looked around, a confused look upon her face as she saw Mitchell grinning at her.

Finally, as Keller moved forward to check Ellie's pulse, Sheppard said,

"Ah, it's alright Major, I'll take things from here, you go back to your duties".

Lorne nodded gratefully and he looked at Ellie but then quickly looked away as she caught his eye and he hurried from the infirmary.

"John…what's going on?", Ellie said and Sheppard took a deep breath….

**OoOoO**

A while later Ellie fought down the urge to laugh out loud as she thought about the absurdity of what Sheppard had said to her earlier.

'Her heart belonged to Major Lorne because he was the only one who had been able to wake her from her slumber'.

There had to be some other scientific explanation for what had happened but as of yet no-one had been able to tell her what that was.

Carter had said that she had examined the crystal but had come up with nothing so far and if Sam was saying that then there wasn't much hope!

'There was no way that it could be true anyway', Ellie told herself as she headed for the spare uniform storage room - she needed to get herself an off-world uniform together as she was accompanying Sheppard's team to the new 'Gateworld' shortly - 'She had only had two encounters with Lorne (well three now if you counted the kiss) so how could her heart possibly belong to him?'.

"Ridiculous", she muttered under her breath as she pushed open the door to the room she needed and stopped dead in her tracks as she was just in time to witness Lorne pulling his T-shirt over his head and he flung it onto a nearby bench and proceeded to rummage through the clean ones.

Ellie stared at him, her mouth opening slightly as she took in his smooth toned chest, his flat stomach and his muscular arms.

She eventually dragged her eyes back up to his face and she blushed furiously as she realised that he had been watching her openly admiring him.

She tried to think of something intelligent to say but nothing would come and so they just stared at one another until Lorne eventually said,

"Emma spilled her juice all down me…I needed to change".

"Right…that's uh…that's nice…I mean….never mind", Ellie replied, forcing herself to look away as Lorne grabbed another T-shirt and pulled it on.

Lorne's mind raced as he re-dressed.

He hadn't seen a woman look at him the way Ellie just had in such a long time, not since Brianna and he found that it hadn't been a totally unpleasant experience.

He had seen the desire flare in Ellie's eyes as she had looked at his chest and he had found that it had awakened a tiny glimmer of something deep within him too.

"Are you alright now…since waking up I mean?", he asked and Ellie nodded as she moved toward the off-world gear, deliberately avoiding looking at him.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine, thanks for asking", she replied and Lorne nodded.

Steeling himself he said,

"Look, Doc, about the kiss I….", he trailed off as Ellie turned to face him, waving the T-shirt she held at him.

"It's fine, honestly. We need never mention it again, I mean I don't expect you to marry me now or…anything…", her face fell as she watched Lorne's expression turn grim at the mention of marriage and she groaned and kicked herself inwardly as she carried on,

"Oh…I'm sorry…I didn't mean to upset you or….", she stopped as Lorne stepped a little closer to her.

"It's alright…It's just that Brianna was the only woman that I ever loved and now that she's gone... Well, my daughter is my priority now...and I don't have any plans to date or…", he saw the expression on Ellie's face and grimaced, he was probably thinking too deeply about what had happened. It wasn't like she'd professed to love him or anything... and she wasn't responsible for him kissing her.

"I should get going", he said and Ellie nodded as an awkward tension settled between them.

"I'll see you then Major", she said and Lorne regarded her.

"My name is Evan", he said and Ellie smiled at him as he moved toward the door.

"I'll see you then…Evan", she said and he nodded, a smile twitching at his mouth as he disappeared from her view.

Ellie sighed dreamily and then caught herself.

"Stop it", she berated herself as she gathered the items she needed and then left the room herself.

Ten minutes later she headed to the gate room to meet Sheppard's team and found it in total chaos as quite a few Major Lorne's stood on the gate room steps looking totally bewildered as they were all only wearing sweat pants and their dog tags.

"Ah, Ellie, get over here…as you can see we have a bad, bad situation going on here", Zelenka cried as he spotted her and as Ellie approached him she smiled.

"Twelve Major Lorne's and you're saying this is a bad thing?", she asked but her smile faded as Lt. Cadman caught her eye and glared at her.

"Why are all these Lorne's making their way here?", Carter asked of Rodney who was staring in wonder at the twelve Majors.

"I have absolutely no idea", he replied and Carter rolled her eyes and said,

"I am going back to my office…when this is sorted out would someone please let me know", and with that she headed off.

"Well this is something you don't see everyday", Sheppard commented and Ronon laughed.

Just then Lorne entered the gate room.

"What the hell?!", he exclaimed as he spotted the other twelve of himself.

"You just stay this side of the consoles then we know you're ours", Rodney said as he scratched his head and tried to decide upon the best course of action.

Lorne moved closer to Lt. Cadman and said in a low voice,

"Why do none of them have any shirts on?", he asked and Cadman glanced at him, a twinkle in her eye as she replied,

"I don't know, the whole dog tags, bare chest thing is very hot. Think of it this way, you're setting up a new trend!".

Lorne grimaced and looked over at Ellie who seemed to be having a hard time keeping her eyes off the other Lorne's and he realised with a start that he felt suddenly jealous of…himself?

Groaning he folded his arms. Whatever had caused this problem he just hoped McKay got it sorted out soon.

End of Chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3

Date : 11.04.2008

Title : Worlds Apart

Author : ElaineDex

Chapter : 3 of ?

Rating : M

Pairings : Major Evan Lorne/Dr. Ellie Harrison

Warnings : Some Sexual Content, Romance, Adventure, Strong Language.

Spoilers : This story is part of a challenge set by puppypower01 - The Challenge of the Gate worlds - which you can find on her profile page - and part of an idea I had for another AU story…it has nothing to do with either of my other two series' which I will be continuing with shortly.

Feedback : Yes please, always welcome whatever it may be.

Disclaimer : Dr. Ellie Harrison is mine. Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1 and all their characters, unfortunately, have nothing to do with me.

**Summary : AU : Major Lorne is left all alone with his newborn daughter and swears that he will never fall in love again****…****then he meets Dr Ellie Harrison****…****then still swears that he will never fall in love again!**

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

"This is NOT happening….MCKAY!!", Sheppard bellowed as twelve of him joined the twelve Major Lorne's in the gate room.

Ellie stifled a giggle as McKay began to look extremely nervous.

"I don't know what could be causing this", he said.

Ellie and Zelenka moved to his side and Ellie said,

I believe that you said this 'Gateworld' is where everyone has to go to make their way to other worlds…but obviously, judging by the way the Lorne's are dressed, they're not making their way to other worlds are they, so something has gone drastically wrong…its as though they're being plucked from their daily routines and are being dumped here".

"Yes, thank you for that input Einstein", Rodney retorted and Ellie sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Should we not just turn them all around and send them back to the Gateworld and then they can find their own way home from there?", Zelenka asked and Rodney folded his arms.

"Maybe", he replied, just as twelve Jack O'Neill's appeared.

"Oh crap!", he said as the O'Neill's looked about suspiciously and raised their P-90's at one another.

"Okay this has gone far enough", Sheppard said stepping forward. "McKay, lead the way to this damn Gateworld, Ellie you're with us…let's get this lot back to where they belong. Major Lorne, if any more of these…'people' show up, do as Zelenka said and turn them around and send them back".

"Yes Sir", Lorne replied stepping toward Ellie.

"Be careful", he advised her and she smiled at him as she moved to join Sheppard's team.

"What in the hell is going on here?", one O'Neill was saying as Ronon tried to herd all the O'Neill's back through the gate and Ellie approached the Lorne's.

"Would all you Major's like to follow me please", she said and one replied,

"I sure would ma'am", and she blushed furiously and looked away.

On the gate room steps Lorne pursed his lips and glared at his other selves. They had better be nice to her or he'd find each one of them and kick their asses!

**OOoOo**

"Isn't this the most amazing place", McKay commented as he lead the way through the caves that had a Stargate in every alcove.

The shimmering reflections of the various portals were dancing and lighting the stone walls with blues, greens and purples.

"It's certainly different", Sheppard commented as thankfully, all the other Sheppard's, Lorne's and O'Neill's went to their own gates and disappeared through them.

"So which is the gate that leads to other worlds?", Sheppard asked as eventually there was only him, Teyla, Ronon, McKay and Ellie stood together.

"Ahh, this one over here", Rodney pointed to the direction of the only gate that didn't have an open wormhole.

"What I don't get is why this has happened", Ronon said and Sheppard nodded his agreement.

"I'm not sure", Rodney replied, "Dr Jackson and I went over many theories at the SGC and the only thing we could come up with is that what has happened must have been a pre-determined plan by the ancients to link all different universes together".

"To what end?", Teyla asked as suddenly the closed gate began to light up as someone, somewhere began to dial it up.

"I don't know…but we should get outta here and try and find a way to get things back to the way they were before", Sheppard said as they all headed back to the gate back to Atlantis.

Ellie was the last to step toward the portal home and just before she did so, she glanced back at the people entering the Gateworld and she gasped as she saw another one of herself and yet another Lorne…and they were holding hands!!

She gasped as the other her stepped closer to the other Lorne and kissed him fully on the mouth.

Turning away she followed the others through the gate back to Atlantis.

'How interesting', she thought, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

**OoOoO**

A few days later and they were no closer to figuring out what was going on with the gates.

Rodney, Zelenka and Ellie plus another team of scientists had worked around the clock for two days straight when they decided that a break was in order.

They each went their separate ways to freshen up and get some rest.

**ooo**

On one of the highest walk-ways of the city, Laura Cadman pushed Emma in her stroller, pinching at the bridge of her nose as she did so.

Since visiting P21-699 the other day she had been suffering with bad headaches and the one she had now was a blinder.

Without warning, blackness closed in around her and she passed out, leaving Emma sat in her stroller, oblivious to what had happened.

**ooo**

Ellie couldn't sleep and she grew tired of tossing and turning in her bed.

Sighing, she sat up and decided to dress and go for a walk. A few people had said that the views of the ocean and of the rest of the city from the highest walk-ways were fantastic and so she decided to head up that way and see for herself.

After making her way up to one of the walk-ways she stepped out and breathed in the fresh air, sighing as she tried to think of a solution to the gate problems.

She was lost in thought when she heard a familiar giggle.

"Emma?", she murmured, following the sound around the nearby corner and then gasped as she saw the scene before her.

Laura Cadman was lying on the floor and Emma was half toddling, half crawling toward the edge of the walk-way, the lowest barrier much higher than her head and she could easily fall through it.

Ellie took two steps forward and then paused. She didn't want to startle the baby.

Tapping her ear-piece she said,

"This is Dr Harrison, could I please have a medical team to lookout point 3 immediately, Lt. Cadman is unconscious".

She then tapped it again and said,

"Major Lorne…Evan…?".

Lorne's voice came back immediately.

"Ellie? What's going on? Is Emma okay?"

Ellie kept her eye on the baby and slowly began to creep forward.

"You need to get up here…right away…Emma may not come to me and I don't want to spook her", she said.

"I'm on my way", he replied.

"Okay, I…", she trailed off as she saw Emma get closer to the edge and decided that she had to make a grab for her.

"Emma!", she cried and the toddler turned and squealed in delight as she saw Ellie.

At the sound of Ellie crying his daughter's name, Lorne ran a little faster, offering up a thanks that he already wasn't too far from their location.

Ellie quickly moved forward and scooped up Emma before she could move and sighed in relief as the little girl wrapped her tiny arms around her neck.

"You gave me such a fright", Ellie crooned, breathing in the sweet baby smell that only came from a child of that age.

Just then the medical team arrived and immediately began to take care of Cadman.

Seconds later Lorne arrived, his worried face relaxing somewhat as he saw Ellie and Emma holding tightly onto one another.

"Is she alright?", he asked as Ellie handed him his daughter and Ellie laughed shakily.

"She is yeah…I feel like my heartbeat is never going to slow down!".

Lorne nodded and turned to the medics.

"Is Lt. Cadman alright?".

"We're not sure Major…she's still unconscious so we need to get her to the infirmary and run some tests", one replied.

"Okay", Lorne replied, turning back to face Ellie who leant against the balcony railing not realising that it wasn't safe.

"I owe you one", he said and Ellie smiled, but that same smile began to fade as she felt herself suddenly falling backwards as the railing gave way behind her.

She wanted to scream and she opened her mouth but no sound came out. Her arms flailed about and she scrambled for something to grab a hold of and things seemed to happen in slow motion as she fell but managed to grab onto the ledge of the walk-way she had just fallen from.

"Hold my daughter!", Lorne bellowed at one of the medics who moved forward quickly and took Emma from him.

Ellie finally managed to cry out as her thighs banged against the metal-work beneath the ledge and her hands began to hurt from trying to keep a hold on the walk-way

Just when she thought that she could hold on no longer, Lorne's fingers closed around her wrists and she looked up at him.

"I got you", he said reassuringly and Ellie nodded, putting all her trust in him to not let her fall.

Slowly he managed to pull her up and they collapsed on the ledge, Ellie half sprawled across Lorne.

"I guess this makes us even", Ellie said, grimacing as pain radiated across her thighs as she tried to move.

Lorne saw her expression and said,

"Are you okay?".

"Yeah, it's just my legs…ohh", Ellie trailed off as she saw that her combats were ripped and blood was seeping from where she had banged her thighs against the jagged metal of the walk-way supports.

"Let's get you to the infirmary", Lorne said, standing and scooping her up into his arms before she had a chance to object.

Emma squealed happily as she watched on from the medic's arms and he followed the Major as he stalked off, carrying the Doctor away.

In the infirmary, Lorne placed Ellie onto a spare bed and then took his daughter from the medic with a thanks so that the man could return to his duties.

"You should check on Lt. Cadman", Ellie said, wincing as she straightened out her legs.

"I will", Lorne replied not being able to help but feel responsible for what had happened….after all, if Ellie hadn't had to get a hold of Emma then she would never have been near the faulty railing…

"Evan…I'm fine, there's no harm done. Go check on Cadman", Ellie's voice broke into his reverie and Lorne nodded.

"I'll come back in a while, see how you're doing", he promised and Ellie nodded, waving at Emma who waved back as they began to move away.

A short time later, after having the 'not so bad after all' scratches on her thighs cleaned up and her tetanus jab renewed, Ellie swung her legs off the bed, frowning at how little the infirmary gown that she now wore covered.

She was just trying to tug it down when Lorne re-appeared at her bedside, Emma asleep in her retrieved stroller.

His eyes immediately went to the smooth skin of her legs and he felt desire stir within him and he cleared his throat and dragged his eyes to Ellie's face, thankful that she appeared not to have seen where he had been looking as she was busy trying to tug the infirmary gown down to make it longer.

"Oh, hey", she said, "How's the Lieutenant?".

"She's okay…some kind of bug…but Dr Keller doesn't seem to think its contagious. They're keeping her in for observation", Lorne replied and Ellie nodded.

"That's good", Ellie said.

"Yeah…and you're okay too?", Lorne trailed off as Ellie nodded, unsure if what he was about to say was a good idea or not but he took a deep breath and went for it anyway.

"I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner with Emma and me tonight?".

Ellie blinked at him, confusion crossing her face as she remembered his words from the other day about not wanting to date.

Lorne saw her expression and added,

"As a thank you".

Ellie smiled, "Okay then…and it works both ways…you and Emma can have dinner with me as a thank you to you for saving my ass".

Lorne laughed.

"It's a deal", he said.

End of Chapter 3


	4. Chapter 4

Date : 13.04.2008

Title : Worlds Apart

Author : ElaineDex

Chapter : 4 of ?

Rating : M

Pairings : Major Evan Lorne/Dr. Ellie Harrison

Warnings : Some Sexual Content, Romance, Adventure, Strong Language.

Spoilers : This story is part of a challenge set by puppypower01 - The Challenge of the Gate worlds - which you can find on her profile page - and part of an idea I had for another AU story…it has nothing to do with either of my other two series' which I will be continuing with shortly.

Feedback : Yes please, always welcome whatever it may be.

Disclaimer : Dr. Ellie Harrison is mine. Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1 and all their characters, unfortunately, have nothing to do with me.

**Summary : AU : Major Lorne is left all alone with his newborn daughter and swears that he will never fall in love again****…****then he meets Dr Ellie Harrison****…****then still swears that he will never fall in love again!**

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Ellie was getting ready to leave the infirmary when she saw Lt. Cadman sit up in bed and she cautiously made her way over.

"Hey, how're you feeling?", she asked.

"I'm fine…", Cadman replied stiffly and Ellie nodded as the Lt. continued,

"Evan told me that you called the meds and took care of Emma".

"Yeah it…", Ellie began to reply but Cadman cut her off.

"I couldn't help what happened…and you needn't concern yourself with Emma's care or being there for Evan whilst I'm in here. Thanks for what you did but they're my responsibility".

Ellie opened her mouth to respond but changed her mind and shut it again. She looked at Cadman and sighed.

"I'd like it if we could be friends", she said eventually and Cadman lifted her head and glared at Ellie.

"What, so that you can use me to get closer to Evan? I don't think so Doctor…".

Ellie frowned and retorted,

"I have no idea what you are talking about but trust me when I say that I wouldn't need your help to get closer to Evan 'if' indeed that is what I was trying to do".

Cadman watched as the petite Doctor whirled away and went back to the bed she had been resting on, she saw her pull on a robe, snatch up her uniform and head for the exit.

Sighing deeply she flopped back against her pillows.

She knew that Evan had every right to move on with his life but she was scared that once he did then Brianna's memory would be gone and she couldn't let that happen.

Emma needed to know who her mother was, and Evan needed to remember just how much his wife had meant to him…how much she should still mean to him…

**OoOoO**

As Ellie made her way to the mess hall to join Lorne and Emma, she wondered if maybe she should tell him that she couldn't stay.

She didn't want to cause any trouble with Cadman and it was obvious that the Lieutenant wasn't ready for her brother-in-law to have any new 'friends'.

She began to think about what she could say to get out of their dinner arrangement as she entered the mess hall but when she saw Lorne sat at a table, Emma perched on his knee, she realised that she didn't want to get out of the plans they had made.

She wanted to be here and as long as Lorne was okay with it then what could be the harm?

Lorne looked up just in time to see Ellie walking toward his table and he again felt the tug of desire that he'd felt in the infirmary earlier.

Squashing it down he smiled at the Doctor as she reached them.

"Hi", she said, taking Emma's small hand in hers as the toddler held it out to her.

"Hey", Lorne replied, keeping a tight hold on his wriggling daughter as she strained to go to Ellie.

"How are your legs?", he asked as Ellie slid into the chair opposite.

"A little sore, but I'll survive", she said. "They haven't earned me any sick leave at any rate so they cant be that bad".

Lorne smiled at her attempt at a joke but the thought of how serious the earlier incident could have been still weighed upon his mind.

"So…do you want me to get the food in?", Ellie's voice broke into his thoughts and he said.

"If you watch Emma I'll get it".

"Okay", Ellie agreed and Lorne stood and put his daughter on the chair next to Ellie.

He watched as Ellie pulled the chair closer to her and then he said,

"The main tonight is chicken in some kinda sauce…you okay with that?".

"Yeah sure", Ellie replied and Lorne nodded and headed off to the food counter.

When he returned, Emma surprised him by staying quite happily where she was and Ellie began to feed her a little bit of the chicken.

Lorne shook his head as he ate his own food.

"I cant believe how quickly she's taken to you", he commented and Ellie smiled at the little girl by her side.

"That's because I'm just sooo cool, isn't that right Emma?", she said and the toddler grinned and clapped her hands.

Lorne laughed and regarded Ellie as she ate some of her own chicken.

"So how's the gate problem?", he asked and watched as Ellie grimaced.

"Not good. We cant seem to figure out what is going on. There has to be a reason why all the gates from all of the different worlds have opened up like they have but there is absolutely nothing in the ancient database about it".

"Maybe it has nothing to do with the ancients", Lorne offered and Ellie sighed.

"Maybe. We need to figure something out though and soon. Colonel Carter is far from happy about the cities' gate being wide open like it is and I heard that General Landry is fast changing his mind about the situation too".

"Yeah, its pretty unsettling, not being in control of our own gates", Lorne said glancing at his daughter.

"It is…but we have good security", Ellie replied avoiding his eyes as he looked back at her.

"Was that a compliment?", he asked and Ellie smiled.

"Maybe", she answered coyly.

Lorne cleared his throat and Ellie decided to change the subject as she didn't want to make him uncomfortable.

"I'm surprised actually that Landry hasn't requested that I to go back to the SGC. I was only supposed to be covering for Rodney but since he doesn't seem to be making any effort to go back to Earth, I thought that maybe they would want me to go back".

Lorne frowned as though he found the idea displeasing and he said,

"I didn't think of that".

"Well hopefully they'll let me stay for a while longer…I'm starting to like it around here", Ellie said and Lorne smiled.

"I'm glad".

They finished their meal, laughing at some of Emma's antics and once dessert was over, Lorne suggested a walk.

"Just so long as we stay off those higher walk-ways", Ellie said as they stood to leave the mess hall.

"No problem", Lorne replied as he lifted Emma into his arms.

They walked for a little while, taking in the lights glinting off the calm water that surrounded the city.

"I heard on the grapevine that you paint", Ellie said suddenly and watched as colour crept into Lorne's cheekbones.

"Well…I used to…but I haven't done anything since Brianna…", he trailed off and nuzzled his face against Emma's cheek as Ellie looked at him.

"Well you should take it up again, I mean you have the perfect subject right there in your arms", she said and Lorne smiled.

"Like she would sit still long enough for me to paint her", he said and Ellie reached out and took Emma's hand, laughing as the toddler suddenly launched herself at her and she gathered her into her arms as she left her father's hold.

"Well I'm sure I could help", she offered as Lorne looked on as though considering her offer.

It had been a long time since he'd had the urge to paint but now that he had talked about it, he felt the stirrings of interest in his old hobby biting at his ankles.

He looked out at the water as he thought about how Ellie had made a difference to his life already and she'd only been on Atlantis for a week or so…

Emma somehow seemed a little changed too and she seemed to brighten instantly whenever she saw Ellie.

He wondered if it was just his imagination or not. Maybe it had nothing to do with Ellie. Maybe it was just the right time to begin to move on with their lives.

No woman could replace Brianna in his heart, he knew that…but there was no harm in having a friend to talk to, to share things with.

Sure Laura was great, but she had been affected by Brianna's death too and whenever they got together all they seemed to end up talking about was the past…never the present or the future.

He turned back to find that Ellie had moved a little away from him with Emma and they were pointing out at the water and laughing at something.

He moved up behind them just as Ellie stepped backwards and his hands went to her waist to steady her as her she bumped into him .

"Sorry", he said, his mouth dangerously close to her ear and Ellie closed her eyes as heat washed over her.

"Thats okay", she said, squeezing her eyes more tightly shut as she realised how breathy her voice sounded.

Thankfully, Emma laughed, breaking the moment and Ellie opened her eyes as Lorne removed his hands and moved to her side.

"What are you guys looking at?", he asked and Ellie was glad that Lorne didn't seem affected by what had just happened.

"It seems that Sheppard and Ronon decided to do a little evening fishing but its gone a bit wrong", she said as Lorne leant forward and saw that Sheppard was being hauled back into the small dingy by Ronon who was laughing his head off at the same time.

Lorne laughed at the sight of his dripping wet C/O and Ellie smiled.

They watched on as Ronon rowed them back in and when they disappeared from sight, Lorne turned to Ellie.

"I guess I should be getting this little one to bed".

"I think so", Ellie replied as she handed a sleepy Emma back to her daddy.

They walked back the way they had come and once inside Ellie said,

"That was nice".

"Yeah", Lorne replied, rubbing a hand across Emma's back as she snuggled into his shoulder.

"Well, let me know if you need a hand if you decide to paint her", Ellie said and Lorne nodded.

"I will", he replied.

They hovered for a second or two and then Ellie began to move away.

"Bye Evan", she said and he held up his spare hand to wave at her as she left him, wondering why he was so reluctant to bid her goodnight.

End of Chapter 4


	5. Chapter 5

Date : 16.04.2008

Title : Worlds Apart

Author : ElaineDex

Chapter : 5 of ?

Rating : M

Pairings : Major Evan Lorne/Dr. Ellie Harrison

Warnings : Some Sexual Content, Romance, Adventure, Strong Language.

Spoilers : This story is part of a challenge set by puppypower01 - The Challenge of the Gate worlds - which you can find on her profile page - and part of an idea I had for another AU story…it has nothing to do with either of my other two series' which I will be continuing with shortly.

Feedback : Yes please, always welcome whatever it may be.

Disclaimer : Dr. Ellie Harrison is mine. Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1 and all their characters, unfortunately, have nothing to do with me.

**Summary : AU : Major Lorne is left all alone with his newborn daughter and swears that he will never fall in love again****…****then he meets Dr Ellie Harrison****…****then still swears that he will never fall in love again!**

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

McKay, Zelenka and Ellie worked on the gate problem again for the next two days and tempers were beginning to get a little frayed.

On the morning of the third day following her evening with Lorne and Emma, Ellie and Zelenka walked out on Rodney.

They needed a break from his incessant moaning and criticisms and they headed to the mess hall to get coffee.

They were seated and going over the gate diagnostics once more when Lorne approached their table.

"Hey Docs", he said and Ellie looked up at him, smiling warmly and he instantly felt welcomed.

"Mind if I join you?", he asked and both Ellie and Zelenka shook their heads so he pulled back the chair next to Ellie and sat down.

"Where's Emma?", Ellie asked as she sipped her coffee. She hadn't seen the little girl or her daddy in the last couple of days and she had to admit that she'd missed them both.

"She's with Laura", Lorne replied.

"Oh so she's out of the infirmary now?", Ellie said and when Lorne nodded she added, "That's good".

Zelenka watched them both as Lorne turned to Ellie.

"I've been thinking about my painting and I was wondering…about what you said the other evening, that you'd help out with Emmy if I decided to paint her", he said and Ellie smiled and waited for him to continue.

"Well, I've decided to give it a go if you'd still like to help?", he finished and Ellie carefully avoided Zelenka's probing gaze as both men waited for her response.

"I'd love to", she said and Lorne smiled as though relieved and Zelenka looked away, biting back a smile of his own as Lorne stood.

"How about tomorrow evening? Will that be okay?", he asked and Ellie nodded.

"Where do you want me to meet you?", she asked and Lorne hesitated before replying.

"My quarters…that'd probably be the best place for now".

"Okay, see you tomorrow evening then", Ellie said and Lorne smiled and nodded at Zelenka before getting up and moving away.

Ellie waited for Zelenka's outburst but it never came, he just continued to grin at her inanely.

"What?", she asked and Zelenka shook his head.

"Nothing…".

"Don't 'nothing' me Radek. What are you smirking at?", Ellie queried.

"Well…it's just that I haven't seen Major Lorne look that 'okay' in a long time", Zelenka answered and Ellie coloured up.

"Really?", she asked and Zelenka nodded.

"Really".

**OoOoO**

The next evening Ellie had dressed casually in a pale blue cotton skirt that flared out from her hips and a white vest top. She left her long curls down and then headed for Lorne's quarters.

She had to keep reminding herself that this was not a date…it was just a get together to help out a friend. She sighed inwardly, trying to stamp down on her disappointment but she understood that if Lorne wasn't ready for a relationship then there was nothing that she could do about that.

'Friends' would have to suffice and she did really like Emma so it was no hardship.

She buzzed Lorne's door and after a few seconds and he answered, looking gorgeous in jeans and a shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

"Hi", she said brightly, hoping that she didn't sound like an over-excited school girl.

"Hi…come in", Lorne answered, stepping back and Ellie walked past him and entered his and Emma's quarters.

Lorne tried not to let the scent of her delicate perfume affect his senses as she moved by him but he found the smell pleasing and he took a moment to breathe it in.

Ellie's eyes took in the large room before her. There was a seating area and then a large double bed farther back, near the balcony doors. To the left was another door that Emma was just toddling out of.

"Hey sweetie", Ellie said crouching down as the little girl made a bee-line for her. She scooped Emma up and stood just as Lorne reached her side.

"Your room is huge…mine is like a little box compared to this", Ellie said and Lorne glanced around.

"Family type quarters", he stated. "This was the room Brianna and I were assigned just before Emma's birth…but of course she never actually stayed here…", he trailed off and Ellie looked away, her heart hurting for him as an awkward kind of silence descended. Her eyes fell upon a photograph on a set of drawers of Lorne with his arm around a petite woman with strawberry blonde hair and she bit her lip as she realised that the woman must be Brianna.

Lorne suddenly brightened as though he had called time on his memories and he said,

"Shall I get my painting gear out?", and he tickled Emma's neck and she laughed and buried her head against Ellie's shoulder.

Ellie smiled and watched as Lorne moved to a closet and produced an easel and a box of paints and brushes.

"So where do you want us?", Ellie asked and Lorne paused mid-setting up the easel so that he could glance around the room.

"How about we try the sofa for now…see how long she'll sit still there for?", he suggested and Ellie nodded and moved across to the small two-seater and sat down, sitting Emma on her lap.

Surprisingly the little girl was quite well behaved and eventually fell asleep against Ellie's chest.

"How're you doing?", Ellie whispered as she watched Lorne's brush moving across the paper and he looked at her, his eyes softening as he saw his daughter snoozing soundly, her thumb stuck into her mouth.

"I'm nearly done", he whispered back and Ellie nodded, feeling quite sleepy herself and before she knew it, she too had dozed off, her arms around Emma protectively.

Lorne didn't realise that Ellie had fallen asleep until he glanced up to get a colour reference for the pattern on Emma's dress and his brush paused mid-air as he took in the sight before him.

Quickly reaching for his sketch-pad and pencil he drew the scene before him, proud of the way it turned out and of the way he had captured Ellie's features as she slept.

Moving back to the painting of Emma he finished it off and then after washing his hands in the bathroom he moved across to Ellie and gently extracted Emma from her hold.

He carried his daughter into the next room and got her ready for bed, settling her under the covers of her small bed and then after putting up the side safety guard he headed back to where Ellie had slumped side-wards on his sofa, so that her top half was lying down but her legs were still in a sitting position.

He crouched in front of her for a moment and silently observed her.

Her mouth was ever so slightly open and he began to wonder how she would react if her were to lean in and kiss her.

Fighting back the urge he continued his perusal of her. Her long brunette hair was beautiful and he could imagine just how it would feel in his hands. His eyes strayed to her breasts which were pushed together because of her awkward position and his breath caught as he saw the outline of her nipples through her vest top and bra.

Closing his eyes he willed his body back under control and tried to picture Brianna in his mind…and he was shocked to find that all he could see was Ellie.

His eyes sprung open and he reached out and gently shook Ellie by her shoulder.

"Hey", he said quietly, smiling as he saw her blink at him and then blush furiously as comprehension dawned upon her and she realised that she had fallen asleep on him.

"Oh…jeez…Evan, I'm so sorry…I don't know how that happened…", she stuttered as she sat up and Lorne laughed.

"It's fine, don't worry. You, McKay and Zelenka have been working pretty flat out these last few days", he said and Ellie nodded, feeling mortified.

"Did you finish it?", she asked, glancing at the easel and Lorne nodded and stood as she did.

"Can I look?", she asked, knowing that some artists were particular about who saw their work.

"Sure", Lorne said though and she grinned at him before moving over to stand at the easel.

Her eyes took in the beautiful portrait of Emma and her eyes filled with unexpected tears.

"Evan its fantastic", she murmured, marvelling at how well he had captured his daughter's likeness and Lorne came to stand by her side, a little taken aback by her reaction to his work.

"I did this too", he said, reaching for his sketch pad and Ellie's eyes widened as she saw the drawing of herself and Emma.

"This is really good", she told him, amazed that he had wanted to draw her.

"Really? I'm a little rusty", he said, sounding uncertain and then he added silently to himself, 'At everything!'.

"I would never be able to tell that you hadn't painted for such a long time", Ellie told him and Lorne smiled.

They looked at one another and another kind of tension began to settle between them.

Ellie felt herself grow hot under Lorne's gaze and just when she began to think that he was going to kiss her, he backed away and said,

"I'm a terrible host…I never even offered you a drink…", he trailed off as Ellie held up a hand.

"That's okay…I should be going", she said, not wanting to out stay her welcome.

"Oh, okay", Lorne replied, following her as she began to move to the door.

As she waved her hand over the panel to open it he said,

"Thanks for this evening…it's really helped me to realise just how much I miss the painting".

"No problem", Ellie replied, turning to face him once she was stood out in the hallway.

"Kiss Emma goodnight for me", she added and Lorne smiled.

"I will", he said, his eyes never leaving hers and Ellie laughed self-consciously as she got the feeling that he wanted her to kiss him just so that he could pass the same kiss on.

But that was just crazy thinking…surely.

Without thinking it through properly, Ellie suddenly stepped forward and pressed her lips to Lorne's cheek and she murmured,

"Goodnight Evan", before quickly moving away down the hallway so that she didn't have to see his reaction to what she had done.

Lorne watched her go, his heart racing and his fists still clenched from the effort he'd had to put into not grabbing her and kissing the life out of her!

Suddenly guilt swept through him and he moved back inside his quarters and closed the door, his eyes going to the photograph of him and Brianna.

Straightening his back, he renewed his resolve to steer clear of getting involved with someone. What he was feeling was just his deprived bodies' reaction to being in the company of an attractive woman…nothing more, nothing less.

"Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that Ev and everything will be just fine", he muttered to himself as he moved to the sofa and picked up his sketch pad again, looking at his drawing of Ellie and Emma.

The only similarity Ellie had to Brianna was her height, after that they were totally different.

Brianna had had strawberry blonde hair that hung in a neat bob just above her shoulders. She'd had green eyes and had been very slim and pale, but very beautiful…classically so.

Ellie on the other hand had wild, long, curly brunette hair, blue sparkly eyes, a curvaceous body and was very pretty…she looked a lot more approachable than Brianna ever had done and seemed a much warmer person.

Sighing deeply, Lorne flopped back against the sofa and closed his eyes.

**OoOoO**

A couple of days later, Lorne was having lunch with Cadman and Emma when Sheppard stopped by their table.

"Major…Lieutenant", Sheppard said, greeting them both before turning back to Lorne.

"Some of the guys are having a get together in the bar tonight…sort of like bachelor party for Sergeant Stackhouse and I was wondering if you'd be interested in joining us?", he asked and immediately saw Lorne grimace at the idea and he looked to Cadman for help.

"I can watch Emma, I don't mind…she can sleep over with me. Why don't you go and do some 'male bonding'?", Cadman offered and Sheppard winked at her before looking back to Lorne.

"Come on Major…it'll be fun. We can all tease Stackhouse over how an ugly son-of-a-bitch like him managed to get one of the most beautiful of Teyla's people to agree to marry him", he cajoled and Lorne smiled at the thought.

"You don't mind watching Emmy?", Lorne said to Cadman who shook her head.

Taking a deep breath Lorne looked at Sheppard.

"Alright then…I will, thanks Sir".

Sheppard nodded and slapped Lorne's shoulder.

"Good call Major…I'll see you tonight then", he said as he moved away.

**OoOoO**

Ellie had been freed from her nightmare of working continuously with McKay that day by Zelenka and she sighed gratefully as she changed into a deep red wrap around dress with matching shoes and brushed through her hair.

She had decided to treat herself and have a couple of drinks in the bar that night…to see if it helped her to relax and get a good nights sleep.

She sprayed some perfume onto herself and left her quarters, humming softly as she wondered what Lorne and Emma were doing tonight. She hadn't seen them for a couple of days again and she often caught herself wondering where Lorne was or what Emma was doing.

**ooo**

Lorne sighed and took a sip of his beer as he looked around at the marines surrounding him.

Poor Stackhouse was already in a drunken state and they hadn't been in the bar for more than an hour yet.

Everyone was laughing and joking and he had joined in for a time, before he had realised that he wasn't really up for getting completely shit-faced with the guys…not just yet at any rate.

He was about to raise his beer bottle to his lips once again when he saw Ellie enter the bar looking fantastic in a wrap dress that clung to her curves and he heard a couple of whistles from the men he was with.

Thankfully Sheppard said,

"Hey, you can quit doin' stuff like that right now or Carter will have my hide", and Lorne relaxed a little as the men in question looked sheepish and turned away from Ellie who was stood at the bar, oblivious to their perusal of her.

Lorne watched as she got a bottle of red wine and one glass and took it to a table further along from where he was. He wondered if she was planning on drinking it all alone…surely not…or if someone was going to be joining her…a man perhaps...

His stomach clenched at the thought and he looked away from her, confused as to why he felt like he did.

He sipped his beer again and tried to engage in some of the conversations around him but his eyes kept straying back to Ellie who looked bored as she sipped at her own drink.

**O**

Ellie tried to avoid looking at the rowdy group of Marines that were seated in one corner of the bar area. She had heard something about a bachelor party for Sergeant Stackhouse but hadn't realised that it was tonight…if she had of done she might not have bothered coming to the bar.

Sighing she finished the wine that was in her glass and decided to take the rest back to her room, she could have another glass out on her balcony, looking out at the ocean…that would be nice…

**O**

Lorne saw Ellie finish off her glass of wine and watched as she stood and picked up the bottle and her empty glass.

Not trusting himself to think too deeply into his actions, he too stood and made his excuses, wishing Stackhouse well before moving to the end of the bar, grabbing a clean empty wine glass and catching up to Ellie just before she went through the door.

"Hey", he said and Ellie turned and smiled at him, her cheeks flushed from the wine.

"Oh, hi", she replied.

He waved his empty glass at her and said,

"Fancy sharing that bottle?".

"I was going to take it back to my room…to have on the balcony", she replied and Lorne looked at her and she almost stopped breathing as she saw the look of desire in his blue eyes.

Without speaking she took his hand in hers and led him from the bar.

"Way to go Lorne", Sheppard muttered under his breath as he turned back to the other guys.

End of Chapter 5


	6. Chapter 6

Date : 19.04.2008

Title : Worlds Apart

Author : ElaineDex

Chapter : 6 of ?

Rating : M

Pairings : Major Evan Lorne/Dr. Ellie Harrison

Warnings : Some Sexual Content, Romance, Adventure, Strong Language.

Spoilers : This story is part of a challenge set by puppypower01 - The Challenge of the Gate worlds - which you can find on her profile page - and part of an idea I had for another AU story…it has nothing to do with either of my other two series' which I will be continuing with shortly.

Feedback : Yes please, always welcome whatever it may be.

Disclaimer : Dr. Ellie Harrison is mine. Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1 and all their characters, unfortunately, have nothing to do with me.

**Summary : AU : Major Lorne is left all alone with his newborn daughter and swears that he will never fall in love again****…****then he meets Dr Ellie Harrison****…****then still swears that he will never fall in love again!**

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

As the door to Ellie's quarters closed behind them, Lorne took the bottle of wine and her glass from her hands and placed them and his glass onto a nearby chest of drawers before backing her against the wall, his mouth finding hers in the darkness of the room.

Ellie sighed dreamily and raised her arms, wrapping them around his neck and Lorne groaned and crushed her to him, his arms going around her waist as he deepened their kiss.

He tried not to question his actions, he just knew that he needed to feel her body against his, her mouth responding to his urgent kisses.

Ellie wondered what had come over Lorne. Had his determination to not get involved with anyone else crumbled or was he just after a one night stand? She wasn't sure that she wanted to just be a release for his pent up lust and as Lorne tore his mouth from hers and began to kiss her neck she murmured,

"Evan…?".

"Hmmm?", he replied, his hands dropping to her ass and he massaged the soft flesh in his palms and Ellie closed her eyes as desire pooled low in her belly.

She tried to think coherently and opened her eyes once more, his mouth driving her crazy as he caressed the hollow of her throat.

"Ah…do you…would you not like some wine…?", she managed to say and felt Lorne's lips pause against her skin and he slowly raised his head to look at her and she saw just how lust filled his eyes were and her mouth went dry at the realisation that she had done that to him.

As if it suddenly dawned upon him what he was doing, Lorne gently let her go and stepped backwards a couple of steps.

Ellie turned and passed her hand over the lighting panel, bathing the room in a soft glow and she turned back to see that Lorne had moved over to the chest of drawers and was pouring them both some wine.

Lorne kept his back to Ellie for as long as was polite, trying to get his traitorous body under control and thankful that his shirt all but covered his groin, he turned back to her and handed her a glass of wine.

She smiled at him and he knew that his cheekbones would be just as flushed as hers were.

"Would you like to go out to the balcony?", she asked and Lorne nodded.

He would be glad of the cool air!

He followed Ellie and his eyes were drawn the sway of her hips and the way her dress clung in just the right places around her small round bottom and he remembered the way it had felt in his hands and he blew out a breath of air to bring himself in check again.

They moved outside and leant on her balcony railing, gazing out at the ocean before them…the cities lights twinkling around them.

"This place at night reminds me of the lights of San Francisco", Ellie commented and Lorne looked at her.

"That's where I was born", he said and she turned her head to look at him.

"Really?", she asked and he nodded.

"I've never actually been there", Ellie said and Lorne laughed but the sound didn't hold much mirth.

"I haven't been back there in a long time", he said.

"Why not?", Ellie asked, sipping her wine and he did the same before answering her.

"When dad died, mom went kinda strange…I took Brianna home to meet her but she didn't make much of an effort to be nice to her, said she didn't like her and what have you. My sister Rachel and her family moved away…and I haven't seen them since Brianna's funeral. Mom didn't attend of course…that was probably too much to hope for".

Ellie noted that he sounded quite bitter about his mom and so decided not to press him on that score.

"So Rachel has kids too?", she asked and Lorne nodded.

"Two boys".

"Emma would probably get on well with them", Ellie said and Lorne smiled.

"They'd be putty in her hands", he said and Ellie laughed.

"That girl will break some hearts when she's older", she said and Lorne grimaced.

"Yeah and I'll break a lot of legs if anyone dare touch her", he said and Ellie's heart melted at his show of protectiveness toward his baby.

They stayed silent for a few moments before Lorne asked,

"So, where were you born?".

"In the U.K.", she replied and Lorne frowned.

"Your accent…", he said and Ellie shook her head.

"My family moved to Sacramento when I was about five…because of my dad's job…they moved back to the U.K. a few years ago when dad retired but I've not seen them for a couple of years now due to work commitments".

Lorne nodded as he digested her information.

"So you're a Brit…did you come from anywhere near Doc. Beckett?", he said and Ellie smiled.

"No…and not quite a Brit…you see we lived more South West of Scotland in a place called Fford Newydd in Harlech in Wales".

"Wow…so if you'd come straight to the SCG from there you'd have been even harder to understand than Carson", Lorne joked and Ellie glared at him.

"_Rydw i'n_ dy _hoffi di_", she said and Lorne laughed.

"What the hell did that mean?", he asked and she smiled, blushing as she replied,

"I like you".

She waited with bated breath until Lorne eventually replied,

"I like you too".

Ellie sipped her wine as she watched him and Lorne did the same to her, observing silently as she placed her glass on the floor behind her before taking his and placing it with hers.

The air between then grew heavy again as an unmistakeable tension settled and Ellie reached for Lorne at the same time as he pulled her toward him and she went into his arms willingly as his mouth crashed down upon hers.

They moved back inside and fell onto Ellie's bed in a tangle of arms and legs, their mouths meeting again in another searing kiss.

Ellie's hands went to the buttons on Lorne's shirt and she began to undo them, eager to feel the skin of his chest and abdomen.

Meanwhile Lorne was busy trying to undo the buttons at Ellie's hip to open her wrap dress and as he succeeded he slid a hand inside the material and his fingers brushed along her rib cage and then he cupped the underside of one breast, his thumb grazing her nipple through the lace of her bra and Ellie moaned into his mouth and he felt the sensitive bud harden.

He tore his mouth from hers and began to press hot kisses to her neck as Ellie's hands caressed his shoulders as she pushed his shirt from them.

Lorne's body was so hard that it was becoming painful and he fought against his need to just push Ellie onto her back and take her there and then with them both only half-undressed.

Knowing that she deserved better than that though, he ran his hand back down her body, caressing her hip and stomach before sliding it in between her thighs and Ellie moaned and buried her face against his chest as she felt his fingers at the edge of her panties.

Ellie felt her cheeks burn as Lorne's fingers brushed against her opening but she couldn't stop herself from raising one of her thighs and hooking it over his to give him easier access.

Lorne closed his eyes against the waves of desire that were threatening to engulf him and he moved so that he leant over Ellie and he bent his head to her breasts, his mouth closing over one rosy nipple and Ellie moaned again and arched against him.

Lorne could feel how moist Ellie had become and he dipped a finger experimentally inside of her and Ellie almost left the mattress and she gripped his shoulders as heat pooled low in her belly.

Lorne continued to tease her nipple with his teeth whilst moving his fingers against her and he felt her soft folds begin to swell with excitement.

Ellie speared her fingers into Lorne's hair and bit her bottom lip in an effort not to cry out but as she felt herself beginning to unravel she found that it was no longer possible to keep quiet and as she came she moaned and gasped and writhed against Lorne, trying to press herself as close to him as was possible.

As she came down from the heights of ecstasy, Ellie kept her eyes closed and when she eventually opened them, she saw Lorne looking at her through hooded eyes and she reached up and touched his face with her fingertips.

"That was…", she trailed off, unable to find the words to adequately describe what she had just experienced and she leant up and pressed her mouth to his.

Lorne wanted to continue to make love to Ellie. He wanted to bury himself deep within her and make her come again and again but something was holding him back.

Suddenly an image of Brianna danced before his eyes and he cursed at the fact that when he'd wanted to see his wife's face he had only been able to see Ellie and now that he only wanted to focus on Ellie, Brianna showed up in his mind's eye.

He was shaken from his thoughts as he felt Ellie's hands going for the button and zipper on his jeans and he reached for her and stopped her, cursing again as he saw the confusion cross her face.

"Ellie…", he said, trailing off as he saw her frown. He didn't want to hurt her, not after what they had just shared but he didn't think that he could go through with what they had started.

"I'm sorry…I just don't think that I'm ready for this…", he murmured and Ellie cupped his face.

"Evan…", she began but was cut off as an announcement suddenly came through the speaker in the hallway outside of her quarters.

"Could Doctors McKay, Harrison and Zelenka and any available security please make their way to the gate room immediately please".

Ellie and Lorne stared at one another until Lorne eventually said,

"We should get going".

Ellie nodded and looked away, suddenly feeling embarrassed and, if she was truthful, a little rejected and Lorne wanted to say something to make her feel better but he couldn't think of the right words.

They stood and made their way to the doorway and Ellie hadn't quite finished buttoning up the side of her dress as they stepped out onto the corridor and as Lorne joined her, re-buttoning his shirt, they were both unaware that Lt. Marie Adams, one of Cadman's best friends had seen them from further down the hallway.

As they walked to the lever changer, Lorne caught Ellie's elbow and said,

"We need to talk once whatever is going on in the gate room is over with".

"There's no need Evan, really. I understand...", Ellie said, trying to sound like she was alright with everything and Lorne frowned.

They entered the level changer, the silence growing between them and then they exited it and headed for the gate room.

As they headed down the steps they were greeted by the sight of five men and two women, all dressed in a military style uniform and they were talking with Carter, Ronon stood just behind her, his arms folded defensively.

"Who are these people now?", Ellie murmured and Lorne's frown deepened just as McKay and Zelenka joined them.

Lorne caught Ellie's arm and stopped her as McKay and Zelenka headed on down the steps.

"I'm going to go get a P-90 and round up some of my men. You be careful and I'll be back shortly okay?", he said and Ellie nodded, heat stealing into her cheeks as he looked at her.

They continued to stare at one another until Lorne released her arm and turned away.

Ellie watched him go for a moment before taking a deep breath and then she turned and headed down to join the others.

End of Chapter 6


	7. Chapter 7

Date : 20.04.2008

Title : Worlds Apart

Author : ElaineDex

Chapter : 7 of ?

Rating : M

Pairings : Major Evan Lorne/Dr. Ellie Harrison

Warnings : Some Sexual Content, Romance, Adventure, Strong Language.

Spoilers : This story is part of a challenge set by puppypower01 - The Challenge of the Gate worlds - which you can find on her profile page - and part of an idea I had for another AU story…it has nothing to do with either of my other two series' which I will be continuing with shortly.

Feedback : Yes please, always welcome whatever it may be.

Disclaimer : Dr. Ellie Harrison is mine. Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1 and all their characters, unfortunately, have nothing to do with me.

**Summary : AU : Major Lorne is left all alone with his newborn daughter and swears that he will never fall in love again…then he meets Dr Ellie Harrison…then still swears that he will never fall in love again!**

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

**A/N : Because I did not see all of Season 9 of Stargate SG-1 I totally missed the significance of the name 'Sodan' (d'oh) and in my ignorance thought that they were a race of people created by puppypower01 for her challenge...so apologies and I hope you can maybe imagine these Sodan as a new race - this is an AU after all...THANKS!**

**OOOO**

Ellie joined Carter and the others just as McKay was saying,

"What is this about? I was just in the middle of…."

Carter cut him off though, her tone serious as she said,

"These people are the Sodan and they say they have caused the problem with the gates and that they would like to work with us to set things right".

"Really?", McKay asked and Carter nodded.

"Yes", a man whom Ellie thought looked very like Colin Farrell in the movie S.W.A.T. said as he stepped forward.

"Everything you have tried so far and everything that you would be likely to try in the future, to resolve the problem, will never work and you are wasting your time".

"Could you not have showed up a little sooner and told us that?", Ellie said and the man looked at her, his eyes cold as he observed her for a moment before turning to Carter again,

"We would have liked to come sooner but we have been having some difficulties with the Wraith".

"Well, you're here now…these are our top scientists", Carter replied and she indicated to McKay, Zelenka and Ellie before continuing,

"So if you can work with them and get this 'Gateworld' shut down as soon as possible I think we'll all be very grateful".

"For this to work, two of you will need to be on our planet", one of the women said. She had blonde hair, very similar to Carters' and was extremely good looking.

McKay cleared his throat as the other woman, whom was as equally attractive as her colleague stepped forward also.

"I think Zelenka and I have that side of things covered Ellie, why don't you oversee things from here?", he said and Ellie rolled her eyes and glanced at Carter.

"If you like Rodney", she replied.

**oOoOo**

Lorne was almost at the armoury when Cadman approached him, Emma asleep in her stroller.

"Hey, its late and you should be resting. What're you guys doing out and about?", Lorne asked, thinking that Emma should be tucked up in bed.

"Resting so that you can deceive me and Brianna and sneak off to sleep with Ellie? You were supposed to be at the bachelor party", Cadman replied hotly and Lorne didn't say anything for a moment he was so taken aback by the look of disgust on Laura's face.

"Ellie and I haven't…", he began but Cadman shook her head at him and said,

"You were seen, leaving her quarters still getting yourselves dressed…don't try and deny it Evan".

"Look, Laura…I think we need to talk but there is something happening in the gate room right now and they need more security down there so I need to get to the armoury and get back there…", he stopped as she pushed Emma's stroller closer to him.

"I'll go to the gate room…you can look after your daughter, spend some time with her instead of with your little Doctor friend", she said haughtily before stomping off.

They were both off duty so Lorne knew that he couldn't reprimand Laura for her actions and he blew out a frustrated breath and glanced down at Emma.

He still needed to organise more security for the gate room even if he couldn't be one of them and he knew that Sheppard would be out of it for this evening so, grasping the push chair's handles, he continued on his way.

**OoOoO**

As more marines entered the gate room, Zelenka and Rodney prepared to leave with the two women and three of the Sodan males.

"We need some men to go with them Major", Carter said to Lorne and he nodded, glancing at Cadman who stood on the gate room steps, P-90 in hand as she observed the goings on and he knew that he couldn't ask her to watch Emma for him.

Just then Ellie approached them and said,

"The two who are staying here say that there is nothing that they can do until what needs to be done on their planet is complete so they have asked can we give them somewhere to rest".

"I guess…", Carter said as Lorne turned to Ellie.

"I wouldn't normally ask…but could you watch Emma? Someone needs to go with McKay and Zelenka and I'd like to go with my team…".

Ellie wondered why he hadn't asked Cadman who was only stood a few feet away but she nodded and said,

"There's nothing I can do until the morning anyway so sure…I'll watch her".

"Thanks", Lorne replied, feeling totally confident in leaving his daughter in Ellie's care.

"Go get your team ready Major", Carter said as she moved away to speak with the two remaining Sodan males and to show them to the guest quarters.

Lorne looked at Ellie before he moved away and he still longed to say something to her to put right what had happened earlier. He didn't want her to think that he didn't want her…

"Will it be alright if I take Emma back to your quarters as obviously I have nothing for her in mine and…", she stopped as he touched her arm.

"That'll be fine…", he said and she nodded, avoiding his eyes and Lorne cursed inwardly before moving away.

He promised himself that the moment he got back he would make things right between them.

As Lorne moved away, Cadman approached Ellie.

"Very cosy", she said and Ellie regarded her.

"I imagine that Evan would have asked you to watch Emma if you weren't on watch", she said and Cadman looked away, knowing that Ellie was probably right.

"He still isn't over Brianna", Cadman said turning back to Ellie, frowning as Ellie suddenly looked a little sad.

"I know that", she said.

Eventually shaking herself from her silent reverie, Ellie then said, "I should get this little one into bed".

Cadman nodded and watched as Ellie left the gate room with her niece. Sighing deeply she turned back to watch McKay and the others as they waited for Lorne and his team.

**OoOoO**

"Ruins, ruins and more ruins", Lorne commented quietly to one of his men before looking at McKay, "Rodney you're in orgasmic bliss".

"Very funny Major", McKay hissed before moving closer to Lorne's side.

"Does this not strike you as odd?", he whispered and Lorne glanced around at the two female Sodan who were up ahead on the dirt track and the three males who were positioned at even distances around the group.

He frowned and said,

"Did they say that their home was a thriving town?", he asked and McKay shrugged.

"They didn't say much about it to be honest".

"Then lets just keep vigilant okay? This could be the old town that we're passing through now", Lorne said and Rodney nodded, glancing around warily.

They finally came to a clearing and saw before them a small village.

"Now this is 'definitely not' what I was expecting", McKay said and Zelenka agreed. They had thought that they would be taken to a highly advanced city.

How could a place like this have created the Gateworld? They guessed that they would soon find out.

**OoOoO**

Ellie lifted Emma from her stroller and carried the sleeping child into her small bedroom.

She placed her in the bed and tucked her in, kissing her forehead gently and was grateful that the little girl didn't even stir.

She backed out of the room quietly and closed the door.

Sighing deeply she turned and faced the rest of Lorne's quarters and her eyes fell upon the photograph of him and his wife.

Slowly, Ellie approached the photograph and looked at it closely.

Brianna had been a beautiful but cold looking woman. Whether her appearance was different to her personality, Ellie would never know, but if Brianna was anything like Laura then she most definitely could have given her frost bite.

Feeling bad for thinking such a thing about a woman she hadn't even known, Ellie turned her gaze to Lorne. He looked so happy in that picture, his arms tight around Brianna's waist as he held her back against him and Ellie felt a stab of jealousy and she looked away.

She realised that she wanted to make Lorne look that happy again, she wanted to be in his and Emma's lives on a permanent basis but obviously Lorne was just not ready for another relationship just yet.

Maybe she should back off and give him some space…

Groaning as she remembered the way his fingers had felt against her soft feminine folds, she flopped down onto his sofa and closed her eyes.

Lorne was worth waiting for and if wait was what she had to do, then that's what she would do!

**OoO**

Cadman leant against the wall in between the two rooms that the Sodan males were staying in and sighed as she waited for the two other marines who were supposed to be joining her to arrive.

She regretted her actions with Lorne earlier. She knew that she had come across like a spoilt brat. If Lorne felt ready to get involved with another woman then who was she to say that he couldn't?

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't realise that one of the men had exited his quarters and had moved up behind her.

He disarmed her quickly and before she had a chance to respond he had rendered her unconscious, removed her jacket and tac vest and was just putting her over his shoulder as the other man came out of his room.

His face lit up when he saw Cadman.

"I was hoping to run into her again, I was watching her in the gate room", he said and the man holding Cadman laughed low in his throat as he handed his friend her P-90.

"Come on…we need to get started", he said and then they moved away down the hall.

**OoO**

Ronon threw the glass of cold water in Sheppard's face and waited for a response. When none came, he filled the glass and repeated his action.

Sheppard finally spluttered and grunted and began to wake up.

"What the **hell** are you doin?", he spluttered and Ronon pulled him into a sitting position.

"Something's going on…you need to be in on it not passed out somewhere", Ronon replied glaring at him.

"What's happening?", he asked, his throat dry and his head feeling twice its normal size as he squinted up at Ronon.

Ronon filled the glass again and set it before Sheppard who picked it up and gratefully slugged back the water.

"Some people called the 'Sodan' arrived earlier, said that they had caused the gate problem. McKay and Zelenka have gone back to their planet with Lorne and his team and two of them remained here…but now they've gone missing somewhere in the city, so has Lt. Cadman", Ronon filled him in on the situation and Sheppard blinked as he tried to clear his fogged brain.

"Why do things like this 'always' happen just when I was having a nice time?", he moaned as he stood and Ronon regarded him, one eyebrow raised.

"You call getting like 'that' having a nice time?", he said and Sheppard grunted and followed him.

They met up with Carter and Teyla and agreed that they needed to carry out a full sweep of the city, bearing in mind that the two men were probably now armed.

**OoOo**

Ellie awoke with a start, an uneasy feeling settling in her stomach. She got up off the sofa and raced to Emma's bedroom, sighing in relief as she saw the little girl still sleeping soundly.

Moving to the bathroom she splashed her face with cold water and reached for one of Lorne's towels, breathing in his scent as she dried her skin.

She looked at herself in his mirror and she ran her fingers through her hair to try and smooth it out some, still unable to shake off the uneasy feeling.

She left the bathroom and moved to the main door. She was about to open it when she heard voices outside.

It sounded like the two Sodan men. She pressed her ear to the door to try and hear better what they were saying.

"We need to find the power room. Why did you knock her out? She could have showed us the way", one said and Ellie's eyes widened at their words.

She went to tap her ear-piece, cursing as she realised that she didn't have it on her.

She needed to follow them to see where they went…if they didn't know the cities' layout, which they obviously didn't, they could end up anywhere.

She knew that she couldn't leave Emma alone and she moved quickly into the toddler's bedroom and as gently but as quickly as possible, lifted Emma from her bed and put her back into her stroller, wrapping a small blanket around her before opening Lorne's quarters door.

Silently she headed to the end of the corridor and peeked around the corner and saw the two men up ahead. She gasped as she saw that the 'her' they had mentioned was in fact Cadman.

Of all the people they could have taken hostage they had to have taken Laura….Lorne would be distraught if anything happened to Brianna's sister too.

She wondered if anyone was aware of what the two men were up to. She couldn't know for certain and so her only option was to keep following them as carefully as possible. She didn't want to put Emma's or her own life for that matter, in danger.

**OoOoO**

Back on the Sodan's planet, Lorne observed as McKay and Zelenka worked with the two females.

"I cant believe how advanced this equipment is", McKay said and one of the women smiled at him.

"We try to make it look like we are not a very advanced race. The wraith do not seem as threatened by us that way", she said and Zelenka raised his eyebrows.

"Maybe we should try that", he commented and Lorne nodded in agreement.

"So how did you manage to get all those gates into that one place?", McKay asked and the woman looked at him.

"We didn't. We found them dormant, we merely got them working again but in doing so we created all the confusion that has ensued".

"You mean like all the parallel universes clashing and twelve of me turning up on Atlantis?", Lorne asked and the woman regarded him.

"Twelve of you?", she commented and Lorne coloured and shuffled his feet as she smiled and continued, "Yes, just as you say…".

"I think if you had handled it all a little better then it could have been much different…maybe even been a good thing", McKay said and the second woman shrugged.

"We doubt that. No good can come of all the different universes clashing".

McKay frowned and agreed that maybe she was right and they continued to work for a while longer before Zelenka announced,

"I think this side of things is ready to be shut down".

"I agree…we should get back to Atlantis and make sure that everything is good to go on that side too", McKay said.

"Okay…let's go", Lorne said, eager to get this over with so that he could catch up with Ellie and Laura.

**OoOoO**

Sheppard and Ronon glanced around Lorne's empty quarters.

"Do you think they've got Ellie and Lorne's kid too?", Ronon asked and Sheppard sighed.

"I hope not…come on, lets keep moving", he said and Ronon followed him as they left the room.

**ooo**

Ellie stayed thankful that Emma remained asleep as she followed the two men and Laura at a safe distance.

"This is crazy…wake her up…we could be discovered soon and we're wasting time", one of the men said and the one who looked like Colin Farrell, pulled Cadman from his shoulder and smacked her clear across the face.

Ellie stifled a gasp with her hand and watched as Cadman began to come to.

She instantly began to struggle and 'Colin Farrell' pressed her against the wall, his hands around her throat.

"You're going to take us to the power room otherwise I'm going to cut you from here…", and he produced a knife from his jacket and held it to Cadman's throat before continuing, "To here", he finished, trailing the tip of the knife down her chest, in between her breasts, down her stomach and right to the top of her womanhood, a thin line of blood forming on the bits of exposed skin where he had traced.

Ellie watched as Laura nodded, knowing that it would go against every fibre in her body as a trained marine to give in to these men but for now the Lt. had no option but to do as they said.

Now that Ellie knew that Laura was going to take them straight to the power room she could go and find Sheppard and tell him what was going on and where to find the men.

She was just about to move away with Emma when she heard the other man say,

"I want some fun with her first…you said I could".

"We don't have time", 'Colin Farrell' said but the other man began to argue and eventually 'Colin' said,

"Alright…but lets be quick", and Ellie peeked back around the corner to see them shoving a struggling Cadman into a store room.

Her heart in her mouth, Ellie knew she had to move quickly and she moved Emma to an alcove further along and then headed for the store cupboard.

She could hear Cadman's muffled cries and she tried to block out the visions of what the men were doing to her as she steeled herself.

Passing her hand over the control panel she opened the door and saw one of the men braced above Cadman, the other holding her down.

"What the hell…?", 'Colin' said and Cadman's eyes widened and she began to shake her head in warning as she saw Ellie stood in the doorway.

"Let her go and take me instead", Ellie said, her voice wavering slightly as she took in Cadman's bust lip and other fast-forming bruises.

"You're one of the scientists aren't you", 'Colin' said, looking her up and down as the other man hauled Cadman up off the floor.

Ellie nodded, her eyes going to Cadman as the Lt. said,

"Ellie, don't be stupid…get away from here".

"I'm more useful to them…I can operate the cities' controls", she said, trying to hold her nerve and Cadman groaned as the two men grinned at one another.

'Colin' grabbed Cadman's arm and propelled her toward Ellie.

"Get out of my sight", he said and as Cadman crashed into Ellie she whispered,

"Emma is in the alcove just down the hall…get her out of here".

"You didn't need to do this", Laura said and Ellie looked at her.

"You're important to Evan…I couldn't let them hurt you", she said and Cadman's eyes widened just as 'Colin' moved forward and grabbed Ellie's arm.

"I thought I told you to get out of here", he said, shoving at Cadman and as she fell and landed sprawled on the hall floor she could only watch as the two men pulled Ellie away.

Springing to her feet she rushed to the alcove and grabbed Emma.

She had to get to Colonel Sheppard and get Ellie rescued asap….otherwise Lorne could lose the one woman who deserved him just as much as Brianna had.

End of Chapter 7


	8. Chapter 8

Date : 21.04.2008

Title : Worlds Apart

Author : ElaineDex

Chapter : 8 of 9

Rating : M

Pairings : Major Evan Lorne/Dr. Ellie Harrison

Warnings : Some Sexual Content, Romance, Adventure, Strong Language.

Spoilers : This story is part of a challenge set by puppypower01 - The Challenge of the Gate worlds - which you can find on her profile page - and part of an idea I had for another AU story…it has nothing to do with either of my other two series' which I will be continuing with shortly.

Feedback : Yes please, always welcome whatever it may be.

Disclaimer : Dr. Ellie Harrison is mine. Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1 and all their characters, unfortunately, have nothing to do with me.

**Summary : AU : Major Lorne is left all alone with his newborn daughter and swears that he will never fall in love again…then he meets Dr Ellie Harrison…then still swears that he will never fall in love again!**

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Lorne and his team, plus Mckay, Zelenka and the two female Sodan entered the Gateworld only to be caught up in some kind of cross-fire fight between what looked like two different SG-1's and Baal and some of his men.

"Isn't he a Goa'uld?", Zelenka said as Lorne shoved him behind a wall for cover.

"He sure is", he replied, watching as the two SG-1's opened fire not far from them.

Just as Baal disappeared through one of the gates, the Wraith appeared through another and Lorne and his men immediately opened fire causing the two SG-1's to turn around to check out what was going on.

"Damn, this place is worse that Crash Bandicoot", one of the Mitchell's said as they joined Lorne's team in firing upon the Wraith.

When the wraith turned and fled back through the gate they had come from, Lorne turned to the two SG-1's and thanked them for their help.

"You're welcome…Major", one of the Mitchell's said and then they all moved toward their own gates.

"The sooner we get this lot closed off, the better", Lorne commented to McKay as they went through their own portal and for once McKay agreed with him.

As they entered the gate room on Atlantis, Lorne's eyes were immediately drawn to Cadman who was stood at the top of the gate room steps with Sheppard, Carter, Ronon and Teyla, Emma in her stroller crying her little eyes out.

As he moved closer he saw that Cadman was bruised and bleeding and dread filled his stomach as his eyes searched his daughter for any sign of injury.

He took the steps two at a time and when he reached the top he said,

"What's going on?", and he looked from Sheppard to Carter and finally to Cadman for an explanation.

Cadman tried to explain but couldn't and so Carter stepped in.

"The two Sodan men that remained here attacked Lt. Cadman and took her hostage. They tried to get her to show them where the power room was but on their way there they decided they were going to attempt to rape her".

"Are you alright?", Lorne asked and Cadman nodded, lifting her face to look at him she said,

"Thanks to Ellie".

"Ellie…?", Lorne said, wondering where she was just as Sheppard stepped forward.

"Ellie swapped places with Cadman so that they would let her go…she told them that she would be more useful to them as she knew how to operate the cities' systems".

Lorne remained silent but Cadman noticed the slight tick along his jaw bone that she knew meant that he was seriously pissed off.

As the Major took in the news, Carter headed down the steps toward the two Sodan women.

"Do you know what your colleagues are planning?", she asked and the two women shook their heads.

"We do not. Our plan is to shut the gates down, I cannot imagine why Mason and Ardin would do such a thing", one of the women said.

"Please, we need to hurry…I dread to think what they'll do to Ellie…", Cadman trailed off as Lorne looked at her sharply.

"Alright, Teyla, you go with Lorne's men and take a separate route to the power room. Ronon, Lorne, McKay, you're with me", Sheppard said and as they moved off, Cadman caught Lorne's arm.

"I hope she's alright", she said and he nodded once before moving away.

**OoOoO**

Ellie whimpered as the Colin Farrell look-alike pushed her back against one of the power room consoles.

"I think we have a little spare time to get acquainted", he said as the other man secured the room door so that no-one could get in.

"What is it that you're trying to achieve here?", Ellie asked, trying to buy herself some time as 'Colin' trailed his fingers along her arms.

"Our people want to shut the Gateworld down…we want to make sure that they cant do that…it is much more profitable to us if it is left open", he replied and Ellie nodded.

"And it can only be kept open from Atlantis?", she guessed and he nodded, threading his fingers into her hair.

He yanked down hard on it and Ellie cried out as her head was whipped backwards and he grazed his teeth along her neck.

"You smell sweet", he drawled and Ellie shivered as she felt his free hand reaching for the buttons on her dress.

"How come you get her and I didn't get to finish off my girl?", the other man moaned and 'Colin' laughed.

"Don't worry…when I've finished with this one, you can have her".

Ellie trembled at his words but she managed to lift her knee and she tried to hit him where it would hurt him the most but he anticipated her action and suddenly his knife was at her throat.

"Don't", he threatened and Ellie felt a trickle of blood run down her skin as he pressed the sharp tip of the weapon against her skin.

Suddenly 'Colin' stepped back and back-handed her across the face and she tasted blood.

She tried to grab onto the console to steady herself but her fingers wouldn't grip and as she slid to the floor 'Colin' joined her, his hands tearing at her dress.

From his position by the doors the other man said,

"I think I hear something outside".

Ellie squirmed underneath 'Colin', thinking that the other mans' words would make him leave her alone but he merely grinned at her.

"I'd better get a move on then, hadn't I", he said and Ellie cried out as he bent his head and bit the skin at her throat as he pinned her hands above her head.

**OoOoO**

Outside the room, Sheppard, Ronon and Lorne waited to see if McKay could do anything with the lock but he shook his head and whispered,

"It's been sealed from the inside…without a console I wont be able to shift it".

Sheppard looked at Lorne.

"C4?", he said but Lorne looked dubious.

"What if they have Ellie near the doors?".

Sheppard frowned but he couldn't see the two men sitting Ellie in front of the door…if anything they'd have her over by the consoles.

"Let's set just enough to get the doors open and not cause any serious damage", he compromised and Lorne, seeming happy with this, dug into his tac vest pockets for his C4.

He was just about done when he heard Ellie cry out from inside the room and his jaw clenched in anger and he realised with some clarity just how much she meant to him.

When he had finished with the two Sodan's they'd be unrecognizable without their dental records.

Ellie's cry had also made him realise that she was nowhere near the doors and so he added an extra charge and moved away.

A few moments later, Sheppard detonated the charge and the doors to the power room disintegrated.

Inside, Ellie screamed out in shock as the blast went off and 'Colin' was blown off of her by the force of the blast.

The other Sodan was killed instantly.

As the smoke and debris began to clear, 'Colin' gathered his wits and he scrambled up off of the floor and grabbed Ellie, using her as a shield and she trembled with fear as he held her back against him, his cursed knife to her throat again.

As Ellie and the Sodan became visible, Lorne felt his anger rise even higher as he took in her torn dress and the various cuts and bruises that now adorned her soft skin.

Both he and Sheppard raised their P-90's and Ronon trained his blaster upon them.

"Let her go", Sheppard said but 'Colin' shook his head.

"You killed Mason…I owe you a dead colleague", he said and Lorne's finger hovered over the trigger as he tried to get a clear shot at the Sodan.

Ellie knew that for Lorne and the others to get at shot at 'Colin' she would need to somehow get out of the way and the only thing that she could think to do was to drop to the floor.

She felt the knife graze her skin again but it was worth it as she saw Lorne fire off a couple of shots and she felt the Sodan drop to the ground behind her.

Tears pooled in her eyes as relief flooded through her and she just managed to move onto her knees before Lorne dropped to his in front of her.

"Ellie…", he said, his hands cupping her face momentarily before he crushed her to him and she clung to him, burying her face in his neck as Ronon, Sheppard and McKay watched on.

Lorne moved his lips to her ear…needing to know what the Sodan had done to her.

"Did he…touch you?", he managed to say, relief washing over him as she shook her head and bit back a sob as she replied,

"You…you got here…just in time".

Lorne kept her pressed against him as he stood and it was only when Ellie failed to support her own weight that he realised that she was bleeding quite heavily from a cut on her neck.

"Sir, I need to get her to the infirmary…now", he said, lifting Ellie into his arms and Sheppard nodded, radioing ahead to the infirmary to inform Keller of their imminent arrival.

**OoOoO**

Ellie needed a couple of stitches in her neck to stop the bleeding but thankfully, other than that, it was just superficial cuts and bruises.

Carter came to see her and asked if she knew what Ardin and Mason had been planning. Ellie told her that they had been planning on trying to keep the Gateworld open permanently but that they hadnt actually gotten around to doing anything to the cities' systems. Carter then informed McKay, Zelenka and the two Sodan women that they could carry on with the Gateworld shutdown and they began work immediately and it was a great relief to everyone involved when the gate on Atlantis and the one at the SGC finally shut down and Chuck and Walter regained control.

**ooo**

Whilst Lorne was waiting none-too patiently outside of the infirmary to see Ellie, Cadman who had gotten cleaned up, approached him with Emma.

"How is she?", she asked, sitting beside him, placing Emma on her knee.

"I don't know, I haven't managed to get in to see her yet", Lorne replied and Cadman frowned.

"Mason and Ardin though…they didn't…?", she trailed off, relieved when Lorne shook his head.

"No".

After a few moments silence, Cadman said,

"Evan, I'm sorry for the way I reacted earlier when I heard about you and Ellie leaving her quarters. I'm just clinging on to Brianna's memory so badly because it's all I have left of her…you and Emma are all I have left of her, aside from my parents that is and I'm just so scared that if you move on with your life…", she trailed off and Lorne put an arm around her.

"Laura…Brianna was my life, you know that and I will never ever forget her…and Emma and I will always be a part of your life…no matter what happens in mine".

Cadman's eyes filled with tears and she sniffed as she kissed the top of Emma's head.

"Ellie is so right for you Evan…and I've seen how much she cares about you and Emma, she's courageous and pretty and…".

"This is quite a turnaround from when you nearly took my head off earlier", Lorne interrupted her and Cadman blushed.

"I know, and I'm sorry", she replied and Lorne sighed.

"Ellie is perfect, she's everything that I could want…the reality is though that I honestly don't know if I am ready to be with someone else just yet", he said and Cadman looked at him.

"I think that if you and Ellie are meant to be then you will be together at some point".

"Very philosophical", Lorne smiled and Laura grinned at him.

Just then Dr Keller poked her head outside of the infirmary doors.

"Major, you can see Dr Harrison now if you wish", she told him and Lorne nodded and stood, his hand caressing his daughter's cheek before moving away.

**ooo**

Ellie watched as Lorne approached her bedside and she offered him a wobbly smile.

"Are you okay?", he asked as he sat on the edge of her bed at her hip.

"Thanks to you", she said and he took her hands in his.

"Ellie…", he began but she tightened her hold on his fingers and he stopped to look at her.

"I know that you're not ready to be with me…I mean, with anyone yet…you don't need to explain anything", she blushed as she didn't want to sound presumptuous and when Lorne went to speak she shook her head and he held his tongue and let her continue.

"I've decided to go back to the SGC and then take some leave. I'm going to visit my parents and I'll probably stay there until after Christmas".

Lorne nodded, his heart hammering in his chest as he realised that she was going to be out of his life….and not just his, but Emma's too.

He wanted to ask her if she wanted to be with him…whether she wanted to take on the role of mom to another woman's child but his courage failed him and all he could manage to say was,

"We'll miss you…Emma and I".

Ellie nodded, disappointment flooding through her. She had known deep down that he wouldn't beg her to stay but it would have been nice if he had put up some kind of resistance to the news that she was leaving.

"I'll miss you both too", she said.

**ooo**

A few days later, Ellie stood in the middle of the gate room waiting to be beamed aboard the Daedalus with the other staff who were leaving Atlantis on that day.

She looked around and her eyes clashed with Lorne's.

She wanted him to race toward her and stop her from leaving and her heart dropped when instead her merely lifted his hand and offered her a wave.

She lifted her own hand briefly and then looked away quickly, scared that he would see the tears in her eyes and she was grateful when the air around her became charged and she was then aboard the Daedalus and she could sob to her hearts content.

End of Chapter 8


	9. Chapter 9

Date : 22.04.2008

Title : Worlds Apart

Author : ElaineDex

Chapter : 9 of 9

Rating : M

Pairings : Major Evan Lorne/Dr. Ellie Harrison

Warnings : Some Sexual Content, Romance, Adventure, Strong Language.

Spoilers : This story is part of a challenge set by puppypower01 - The Challenge of the Gate worlds - which you can find on her profile page - and part of an idea I had for another AU story…it has nothing to do with either of my other two series' which I will be continuing with shortly.

Feedback : Yes please, always welcome whatever it may be.

Disclaimer : Dr. Ellie Harrison is mine. Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1 and all their characters, unfortunately, have nothing to do with me.

**Summary : AU : Major Lorne is left all alone with his newborn daughter and swears that he will never fall in love again****…****then he meets Dr Ellie Harrison****…****then still swears that he will never fall in love again!**

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

It had only taken Lorne one day on Atlantis without Ellie being there to realise that he didn't want to let her go.

It had taken a hell of a lot longer though for him to pluck up the courage to get himself and Emma places on the Daedalus' next return flight to earth.

He had organised leave time and had e-mailed his sister and asked her to book the flights and hire cars that he would need to get him and his daughter to the U.K. and then on to Wales just in time for Christmas Eve.

He still didn't have a definite address to reach Ellie at but he was sure that once he got to the SGC he could find it out somehow…he had to.

He had toyed with the idea of leaving Emma on Atlantis with Cadman as the trip was going to be long and tiring but he was going to be gone for quite a long time and he couldn't bear to be parted from his baby for so long and he was certain that it wouldn't do Emma any good either.

Finally, the day he was leaving came around and he stood in the gate room, Cadman hugging Emma to her as though she were never going to see her again.

"You promise to e-mail the minute you're able and tell me how its going?", Cadman said over Emma's head and Lorne nodded.

"Yes, I promise".

"And take lots of photos of this little one because they grow so quickly and she'll be so much bigger by the time you get back here", Cadman continued and Lorne nodded again as Sheppard ambled toward them.

"Good luck Major", he said and Lorne smiled,

"Thanks Sir".

Quite a few people on Atlantis knew the purpose of his journey and they had all wished him well.

"Do me a favour and bring me back some stuff", Sheppard said and Lorne frowned.

"Stuff…Sir?", he asked and Sheppard shrugged.

"Yeah..y'know…new release DVD's, candy…anything you can get your hands on…", he replied and Lorne smiled.

"No problem", he said.

"Merry Christmas…for in six or so weeks time", Sheppard said as he moved away and Cadman and Lorne smiled at one another.

"He is so funny", she commented and Lorne nodded as he took Emma from her.

"You have packed her some warm things haven't you? I hear it's cold in the U.K this time of year", Cadman said and Lorne touched her arm.

"Everything is under control Laura", he said and she nodded.

"I know…I'm just gonna miss you guys", she said, her eyes filling with tears and Lorne pulled her to him with his free hand.

"We'll be back before you know it", he said and she smiled, not so certain.

If Ellie didn't want to or couldn't get a position on Atlantis what would Lorne do? Would he ask for a transfer back to the SGC? And if he did that she would hardly ever see them.

Swallowing her tears she kissed Lorne's cheek then Emma's and stepped back.

"I hope it goes well and that you have a brilliant time", she said and Lorne sighed deeply.

"Me too", he replied as the announcement for beam up was made.

**OoOoO**

Ellie watched the snow falling from her parents' cottage lounge window and sighed deeply.

When she had returned from Atlantis she had gone back to working solidly for three and half months with Daniel Jackson. Helping him with the various projects that he was working on had helped to take her mind off of Lorne and his daughter but finally the time had come for her to take her leave and Lorne had moved to the front of her mind once again.

She had travelled to her parents home and had only been there for around a day and a half but already her parents and her deaf, mad as a badger Grandmother, knew everything there was to know about Lorne and Emma, having cajoled everything out of her after seeing how thoroughly miserable she had been on her arrival.

"Ellie honey, are you going to help us to decorate the tree?", her mother whose name was Bronwyn called over and Ellie unwrapped her arms from around herself and turned to face her mother and father.

"Sure", she said, stepping over the boxes of decorations to get closer to them.

She had only hung a few baubles when her Grandmother bellowed from her arm chair,

"I can't remember what it is you do for a living Eloise, but you certainly do not have any kind of degree in tree decoration!".

Ellie rolled her eyes at her mother. Her Grandmother always called her by her full name and Ellie hated it.

"I think I may take Mousse out for a walk", she whispered, referring to her parents' chocolate coloured Labrador and her mother nodded and smiled in understanding as Ellie's father Owen, glared at his mother.

Ellie got Mousse's lead and moved out to the hallway to put on her hat, scarf, gloves, coat and boots.

As she opened the door and Mousse shot out into the snow, she heard her father call out,

"Don't go too far in this weather Ellie".

"Okay", she replied and after closing the door behind her headed off down the snow covered track that headed from the cottage and toward the woods.

**oooo**

Lorne drove his hire car through the snow and arrived at what he prayed was Ellie's parents' cottage mid-afternoon. He had begged Daniel Jackson to give him the address and then had had to cajole him into not calling Ellie to warn her that he was on his way. He had wanted to surprise her but now he wasn't so sure that it had been one of his better ideas.

'What if Ellie had met someone else?', he thought. 'What if she didn't want him and Emma here, showing up out of the blue like this?'

He blocked out the unpleasant thoughts and killed the engine. He glanced at Emma who was sleeping in her car seat beside him and then he looked back through the windscreen at the beautiful house before him.

Christmas lights adorned the front porch and as he opened the car door he caught the wonderful scent of a turkey cooking.

He got out of the car and moved around to the passenger side to get Emma out and she grumbled her displeasure at him for being awakened yet again.

"This should be it now sweetheart…no more travelling for a while", he murmured, hoping against hope that he was right, for her sake as much as his own.

The six week journey from Atlantis to the SGC had been bad enough with a toddler but if he'd thought that was bad enough he had soon come to realise that various flights and check-ins with their luggage and with a by then over-tired toddler was a nightmare that he didn't want to repeat any time soon.

Taking a steadying breath as Emma settled into his shoulder, he headed for the front door of the cottage and knocked.

He had no idea how Ellie would react to seeing them and they had nowhere to stay if it all went wrong as all the hotels and B&B's in the area were surely fully booked because of the time of year and it suddenly hit him just how much of a gamble this trip had been and he hoped it paid off.

Just then the heavy wooden door opened and Lorne could tell immediately that the woman before him was Ellie's mom.

Bronwyn looked at Lorne and Emma, frowning until comprehension dawned upon her kind features and she smiled warmly at him.

"You must be Major Lorne", she said and Lorne blinked at her, surprised but pleased to learn that Ellie must have mentioned him to her parents.

"Yeah, that's right", he replied, then added, "Is Ellie here?".

"Oh forgive me, please come in with that gorgeous little girl of yours, you must both be freezing", Bronwyn said stepping back and ushering him inside.

Lorne moved into the hallway gratefully and as heat engulfed them, Emma began to wake up a little more.

She pointed through the doorway into the lounge and clapped happily as she spotted the Christmas tree and Lorne laughed.

"Let me take your coats", Bronwyn said and Lorne put Emma down so that he could remove her coat, hat and mittens.

"Ellie is out walking our dog Mousse at the moment, but she shouldn't be too much longer", Bronwyn said as she took Emma's and then his coat and hung them up.

Lorne nodded as she indicated that they move into the lounge and then she introduced Lorne to Ellie's father and the two men shook hands.

Finally Bronwyn turned to Ellie's Grandmother and said,

"This is Glenda, Ellie's Grandma".

"Who is he again?", Glenda yelled and Emma covered her ears as Lorne's eyes widened at the way the old woman bellowed.

Bronwyn rolled her eyes at Lorne before replying,

"It's Major Lorne…you know, Ellie's young man".

"Oh…so you're the one that she's pining about for", Glenda yelled and Lorne coloured up even though the old woman's words increased his hopes even more.

"Take no notice of my mother", Owen said, indicating that Lorne sit on the couch as he continued, "Can we get you something to drink? Tea, coffee, something stronger?".

"Coffee would be great thanks…and some milk for Emmy please", Lorne replied and Bronwyn smiled at the toddler who grinned back at her from her position in-between her daddy's legs.

As Bronwyn moved to the kitchen, Owen said,

"So…do you two have any place to stay…the snow is still coming down?".

Lorne cleared his throat and replied,

"I'm ashamed to say that this final part of our trip was kinda neglected due to the fact that I really thought no further ahead than actually seeing Ellie once we arrived here…so no, we have nowhere to stay".

"You do now", Bronwyn said as she re-entered the room with a tea-tray. "You can stay right here with us…Christmas day will be so wonderful with a toddler in the cottage".

"Maybe we should wait to see if it's okay with Ellie first?", Lorne said and as Owen shrugged Bronwyn gushed,

"She will be so happy to see you two that I really don't think that it will be an issue".

"I hope you're right", Lorne said, taking the coffee cup that she offered him.

As both Emma and Glenda fell asleep, Lorne chatted to Ellie's parents happily but once his cup was empty he found himself glancing toward the doorway, wondering where Ellie was.

"Why don't you take a walk to the end of the track to the right of the front door? I'm sure you'll see her in the distance", Bronwyn said as though reading his thoughts and Lorne glanced at her before looking at Emma who was sleeping soundly on the couch at his side.

"We'll keep an eye on her for you", Bronwyn cajoled and Lorne looked back at her and nodded.

"Okay, thanks", he said.

Bronwyn followed him out into the hall and he put his coat and gloves back on and then once on the porch she pointed him in the right direction.

**oo**

Ellie sighed deeply as she paused on the bridge that crossed the small ice covered river on her way back to the cottage.

Everywhere looked magical and she imagined showing Emma the beauty of the woods at this time of year.

Fighting back the urge to cry she wondered how Lorne and his daughter had managed to make such a huge impression upon her in such a short space of time. She thought about the application that she had submitted to General Landry just before she had left the SGC, for a position on Atlantis as McKay's assistant and wondered if Lorne would appreciate her turning back up there if she were to be successful.

Sighing again she called out for Mousse to come to her and it was only then, as she turned to leave the bridge, that she saw Lorne stood at the end.

Their eyes met and Ellie didn't dare to breath in case she was only imagining that he was stood there.

Lorne drank in the sight of her, his heart banging painfully in his chest as he realised that he had forgotten just how beautiful she was.

"Evan…", Ellie eventually whispered, a smile breaking out across her face and she ran at him at the same time as he began to close the distance between them.

They collided and Lorne lifted Ellie against him as her arms went around his shoulders.

"Oh my God…I cant believe that you are really here", Ellie said and Lorne laughed as he put her feet back onto the bridge, his hands not leaving her waist though.

They stared at one another, their breath mingling until Lorne could wait no longer and he covered her soft mouth with his, stealing her breath in a searing kiss that left them both wanting more…much more.

When their lips finally parted, Lorne nuzzled against her ear and whispered,

"I came to see you…to tell you that if you still want me…then, then I'm ready…I knew the moment you left Atlantis that I shouldn't have let you go".

Ellie tightened her hold on him as tears filled her eyes.

"Yes I still want you…you have no idea just how much", she whispered back and Lorne crushed her against him.

They held one another until suddenly Ellie said,

"Where is Emma? Did you bring her with you? How did you find me?", she asked excitedly and Lorne knew that he didn't even have to ask how she felt about his daughter.

"Daniel gave me the address and Emma's with your mom and dad", he told her and Ellie blinked in surprise, not about the Daniel part though, he knew all about her thing for Lorne.

"She is?".

"Uh-huh….", Lorne smiled at her.

"You met my parents already…and my Grandma?", Ellie said and Lorne nodded.

"Oh my God", Ellie muttered.

"They like me…I think. They offered to put Emma and I up actually…it's a good job too seeing as I forgot to actually book us in anywhere", Lorne told her and Ellie looked at him.

"Oh Evan…you came all this way just to see me? Emma must be so tired…you both must be".

"You're worth it", Lorne told her just before his mouth covered hers again.

When they broke apart again, Mousse began to sniff around them and Ellie said,

"We should get back, this snow just isn't letting up and we should get you and Emma settled in".

Lorne nodded and wrapped an arm around her waist as they headed for the cottage.

When they arrived, Ellie helped Lorne to get his and Emma's bags from the hire car and then they went inside to be greeted warmly by Ellie's parents and a happy toddler whose face was covered in mince pie.

**OoOoO**

Later that evening after a hot meal and an even hotter shower, Lorne settled Emma into her allocated bed and kissed her forehead. She was out for the count before he managed to straighten up and he smiled down at her as he stretched his tired muscles.

He went to the room he had been given by Bronwyn and dug in his hold-all for the small square box that housed the diamond earrings that he had picked up in one of the airports jewellery stores and pushed it into his jeans pocket.

He was making his way back down the stairs to join Ellie when he heard her Grandma bellowing,

"What did you say he did again?".

"He's a Marine in the U.S. Air Force, Gran", he heard Ellie reply.

"Ooh, a Marine…randy bunch those lot…hope you'll be able to keep up with him", Glenda replied and Lorne almost fell down the last few steps and he heard a smash as Ellie obviously dropped a piece of crockery onto the kitchen tiles.

"Gran! Please!", she cried.

Lorne bit back a smile and then headed into the lounge to find Bronwyn and Owen getting ready to go out.

They smiled at him just as Ellie and her Gran entered the lounge too.

"Get me my coat Eloise", Glenda ordered and Ellie looked at her Gran and her parents.

"Where are you going?", she asked, wondering what plans they could have for Christmas Eve. They hadn't mentioned any before Lorne had showed up.

"We're just going to nip round to Bob and Jenny's next cottage along, give you two a little time alone", Bronwyn said and Lorne shook his head.

"No please, don't feel you have to go out just because…", he trailed off as Bronwyn shook her head at him.

"It's not a problem…Glenda likes the sherry that Bob has anyhow and we need to wish them a merry Christmas at any rate".

"Thanks mum", Ellie said as she handed her Gran her coat.

"Now we'll be gone for a couple of hours…that'll be enough time for you won't it sonny?", Glenda asked of Lorne who coloured up as Ellie covered her face with her hands and Owen grasped his mother's arm and raced her to the door.

"What? What is wrong with you young 'uns?", they heard the old woman ask as the front door closed behind them.

"I'm sorry…", Ellie said as she uncovered her face to look at Lorne who was grinning at her.

"That's okay…I am a randy Marine after all", he said and Ellie blushed.

"Did Emma get off to sleep okay?", she asked, suddenly nervous and she moved toward the Christmas tree, fiddling needlessly with a few of the baubles.

"Yeah, she's totally whacked", Lorne replied, watching her…wanting her…

"Do you want some wine?", she asked, closing her eyes as she thought of the last time that they had shared wine.

Lorne moved up close behind her and moved her hair to one side.

"I want you", he whispered and heat pooled low in Ellie's belly at his words.

She arched her back against him as he kissed the back of her neck and as she did so, his hands slid around her front and he cupped the undersides of her breasts, pulling her back against him.

Ellie moaned and twisted in his arms so that she faced him, her arms going around his neck as she pressed herself against him.

Lorne took her mouth with his and moved them toward the couch. Slowly they lay down upon it and Lorne moved his body over hers, thrusting his lower half against her, his action telling her just how frustrated he was but suddenly she tore her mouth from his and gasped softly,

"Ouch!"

Lorne immediately pulled away.

"What is it?", he asked, alarmed at the thought that he may have hurt her.

"I don't know", Ellie replied, "There's something hard in your jeans".

As soon as she had said the words she knew that they had been the wrong choice and she blushed furiously as Lorne raised an eyebrow at her.

"I mean apart from that", she mumbled, rubbing at the part of her thigh that the offending 'hard' object had dug into.

Lorne suddenly remembered the earring box and he sat up and pulled it from his pocket.

Ellie sat up too and looked at him.

"What is it?", she asked and he twisted to face her and handed her the box.

"I know it's not Christmas Day just yet but…well, here you go", he said handing the box to her and Ellie took it from him, her eyes searching his.

"Well open it", he said and Ellie looked back at the box and then carefully prized the lid open.

She gasped as she saw the diamond earrings glinting at her in the tree lights.

"Evan…they're beautiful", she whispered, leaning into him to kiss him.

"I didn't get you anything though…I wasn't expecting….", she trailed off as Lorne shook his head.

"Don't worry about that…put them in, let me see how they look", he said and Ellie did as he asked, smiling as he cupped her face.

"Perfect", he said and Ellie kissed him again.

"Just like you", she told him.

They looked at one another for a few moments before Lorne said in a hoarse voice,

"Take me to bed Ellie".

Ellie's breath caught as she realised what he was saying and she continued to merely stare at him for an endless moment before eventually standing, taking his hand in hers and leading him up the stairs to her bedroom.

**OoO**

Ellie was nervous.

They had been here before…but Lorne was somehow different this time. She got the feeling that nothing would stop him from making love to her this time around and she wanted to be sure that when it was over he didn't regret what they had done.

As Lorne rained kisses down her throat she whispered,

"Evan…we don't have to do this right now…we can wait".

"I don't want to wait…do you?", he asked, his voice sounding constricted with passion and Ellie shook her head, biting her bottom lip as his thumb brushed a nipple.

"You're sure that this is what you want though?", she pressed and Lorne lifted his head to look at her and he realised what she was trying to ask him.

"Ellie, I want this…I want you. Last time on Atlantis…I just wasn't prepared for how strongly I felt about you…I couldn't understand how I could feel like that about you when I had loved Brianna as much as I had".

Ellie reached up and touched his face.

"I know I can never replace Brianna…", she trailed off as Lorne turned his face into her palm and kissed it before looking back at her.

"Brianna has her own space in my heart. You and Emma fill the rest of it…", he told her and Ellie melted into him, deciding that he had said enough to convince her that he was okay with this and now she wanted him…badly.

They pulled at one another's clothes and fell onto the bed, Ellie straddling Lorne and they both groaned as she pressed her soft folds against his rigid length.

She moved up and down along his shaft and Lorne gritted his teeth and gripped her hips to stop her.

"It's been a long time for me Ellie…I don't know how much teasing I can take".

She gasped as he took a nipple into his mouth.

"My randy Marine", she said breathlessly and Lorne groaned and suddenly tipped her off of him, trapping her beneath him and pinning her hands either side of her head.

Ellie wrapped her legs around his waist, her eyes locking with his as she felt the tip of him pushing at her entrance.

"I'm all yours", he told her as he made her his with one full thrust and Ellie's breath caught as he filled her to the hilt, stretching her and making her want to sob with the pleasure he was giving her.

Lorne thrust against her and it wasn't long before she felt the tug of a building orgasm and Lorne must have felt her tightening around him and he whispered in her ear,

"Ellie…I cant wait…".

But he didn't need to because just at that moment she shattered into a million tiny stars and Lorne groaned long and loudly against her neck as he joined her in ecstasy.

They lay panting, both knowing that they had needed to get rid of the urgency they had felt so that the next time they made love it would be at a slower, more exploratory pace.

"Are you okay?", Lorne whispered eventually, his lips against her neck and Ellie nodded.

"More than okay. How about you?", she replied, her arms moving around his back and Lorne felt himself begin to grow hard again inside of her.

"I think your Gran was wrong about one thing", he said and Ellie regarded him.

"And what's that?", she asked, gasping as Lorne thrust against her and she felt his re-hardened body moving inside of her again.

"I don't think a couple of hours will be long enough", he replied and Ellie giggled as he kissed her.

The End

If you'd like to find out what happens next in this Lorne and Ellie's lives please review and let me know! Thanks for reading.


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